Russia Strikes Two Kyiv Bridges Over Dnipro River in Three Days

Russian forces struck two of Kyiv's road bridges spanning the Dnipro River within three days, marking what Ukrainian officials and reporters described as the first time bridges in the capital were directly targeted in this way. The Southern (Pivdennyi) Bridge was hit on October 1-2, 2026, and the Northern (Pivnichnyi) Bridge was struck on October 3.

What happened to the two bridges

According to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, Russian drones struck the Southern Bridge four times on October 1-2, damaging the bridge's support structure, a barrier, the road surface and the protective concrete structure covering the metro line that runs beneath it. Traffic on both the road and the metro was suspended. Klitschko said two earlier drones had hit near the bridge's supports on October 1 without causing critical damage.

On October 3, a Russian drone struck the Northern Bridge, which connects Kyiv's Obolon and Troieshchyna districts across the Dnipro. The strike damaged the roadway and the overhead power lines used by trolleybuses, forcing the crossing to close to traffic. Kyiv's public transport operator, Kyivpastrans, said several bus and trolleybus routes were redirected via the Podilskyi Bridge. Two people were injured in that strike.

In response to the repeated hits, Kyiv police introduced traffic restrictions across multiple Dnipro bridges during air-raid alerts, with the Southern Bridge to be closed completely in both directions whenever an alert is declared.

Kyiv Independent reported that the same night's broader Russian assault on Ukraine killed at least six people and injured 38 across the country, separate from the bridge strikes themselves.

Russia's statement and warning to foreigners

Russia's foreign ministry said on October 3 that it would continue what it called "targeted strikes on military facilities in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities," describing the attacks as retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory. The ministry renewed a warning for foreign nationals and diplomats to leave Ukraine, saying that if they ignored it, "responsibility for any adverse consequences lies entirely with those who ignore this warning," according to The Moscow Times.

The Moscow Times also reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin framed the strikes as retaliation, saying Ukraine would "continue to pay the price" for attacks on Russian soil, while Ukraine has continued to strike Russian oil refineries and border regions with its own drones.

Why the new drones are hard to stop

Since late summer, Russia has increasingly used a jet-powered version of its Shahed-type attack drone, known as the Geran-5, which flies faster and higher than the propeller-driven models that have hit Ukraine for years. According to Asia Times, Ukraine intercepts only about 60% of Geran-5 attacks, compared with a roughly 95% success rate against older propeller-driven variants.

The Geran-5 reaches an estimated speed of about 600 km/h, versus roughly 185 km/h for its propeller-driven predecessor, can fly as high as around 6,000 meters and has a range of up to 1,000 kilometers. Its cylindrical fuselage and straight wings give it a profile closer to a cruise missile than a conventional drone. The drone is also fitted with anti-jamming systems and machine vision linked to digital terrain mapping, which Asia Times reported lets it select targets autonomously and makes it harder to defeat with electronic countermeasures.

Because ground-based jamming is less effective against the Geran-5, Ukrainian fighter jets are increasingly required to intercept it directly, which Asia Times said demands "very intensive use" of Ukraine's limited aircraft. Ukrainian intelligence has identified foreign-sourced components in the drones, including Chinese jet engines, U.S. digital processors and German transistors, according to the same report.

Background

The Moscow Times reported that Russia's foreign ministry statement on October 3 reiterated — in the ministry's own words, "once again" — its call for foreign nationals and diplomatic staff to leave Ukraine, indicating earlier warnings had been issued, though the article did not specify when. According to Asia Times, Russia has been building up stocks of its Geran-4 and Geran-5 drones ahead of what it described as an expected autumn and winter campaign against Ukraine, while The Moscow Times reported that Ukraine has continued cross-border drone strikes on Russian oil refineries and border regions.