Russia targets Ukraine’s bridges as Vladimir Putin expands air war

Russia is targeting Ukraine’s bridges as part of its escalating air campaign against civilian infrastructure ahead of the winter.

Russian jet-powered drones have struck three bridges over the river Dnipro during the past week, including two in Kyiv, injuring dozens and disrupting vital transport arteries.

Moscow also hit residential buildings, energy infrastructure and a bus stop during rush hour in several Ukrainian cities, killing at least 64 people in the past few days.

One attack on Kyiv’s North Bridge occurred during the day last Sunday, shortly after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv in a show of support for Ukraine.

A video of the attack showed a Russian drone hurtling towards the bridge, its trajectory visible for only seconds before it exploded into a giant ball of flames.

Russian drones struck Kyiv’s South Bridge three times in the days before Merz’s arrival, damaging the road surface and halting traffic and metro services. The North Bridge was also hit multiple times, including in the strike after the German chancellor’s arrival. At least four people were injured in those attacks, which caused severe disruptions and traffic jams.

On Tuesday, Russia struck another bridge over the Dnipro in the south-central city of Zaporizhzhia, where five people were injured and traffic was disrupted according to local authorities.

The attacks mark an expansion in Russia’s air campaign, from strikes aimed primarily at energy infrastructure towards transport links that are harder to replace and central to daily life.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the FT last week, citing intelligence gathered by his agencies, that Russian President Vladimir Putin had instructed his military leaders to abandon any rules of war, leading to a steep increase in strikes on civilian targets in an attempt to regain the advantage in the war. Deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure is a war crime under international law.

The Ukrainian president said the Russian focus on new targets was meant to crush the economy, wear down morale and make life much more difficult for the country’s war-weary population ahead of what is expected to be another difficult winter.

The strikes on Kyiv’s bridges have exposed how dependent the capital is on a handful of crossings between the city’s riverbanks. Damage to even one bridge can disrupt civilian and military supplies and complicate the movement of emergency services.

For Kyiv’s almost 4mn residents, there are just eight bridges connecting the capital’s eastern and western banks. They carry car commuters, pedestrians, metro and railway passengers, as well as trucks and other vehicles that keep the country moving.

When traffic is diverted, the next crossing over the Dnipro north of capital is the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant, which doubles as a bridge, about 16km from the North Bridge. In the opposite direction, the closest crossing is the Kaniv Hydroelectric Power Plant about 130km from the South Bridge.

The damage to Kyiv’s bridges has so far been limited. Tetiana Gaviuk, an analyst at Acled, a US non-profit mapping war zones, said the damage so far was unlikely to cause the bridges to collapse. However, she added, “sustained direct attacks could eventually compromise bridge structures and lead to more frequent or prolonged closures”.

“Such disruptions could have significant socio-economic consequences, as hundreds of thousands of people rely on the bridges to access work, education, healthcare and other essential services,” she said.

Kyiv has been under relentless missile and drone barrages for the past month. Russia’s ballistic missiles are difficult for Kyiv to shoot down with its critically low supply of US Patriot interceptor missiles.

But, increasingly, Moscow is deploying its new jet-powered drones, for which Ukraine also has limited answers. The drones now attack around the clock, targeting major businesses, data centres, railway infrastructure, medical facilities and densely populated residential neighbourhoods.

The drones used in the bridge attacks were new versions of Russia’s Iran-designed Shahed drones: the Geran-4 and Geran-5, both of which use small jet engines.

Ukraine’s defence intelligence agency, HUR, said the Geran-4 has been adapted recently with systems to improve autonomous navigation and a specialised warhead for striking bridge structures.

Zelenskyy told the FT last week that Ukraine’s air defences were able to intercept just over half of Russia’s jet-powered drones. He said domestic efforts to develop an anti-drone system could hit production lines by the end of October. But a reliable and scalable solution probably remains months away.

Automated machine-gun turrets using AI can be spotted in dozens of locations around Kyiv. Serhii Beskrestnov, a government adviser and electronic warfare expert, said they were meant to provide a last layer of protection for special facilities rather than cover for the entire city.

The bridge attacks have forced the government to consider alternative solutions. One idea being debated is the deployment of pontoon bridges over the Dnipro, which could help to ease traffic but would take weeks to assemble.

Businesses are adapting too, with some planning to let customer-support staff work from home, while offering more flexible start times, carpooling and other alternatives to employees who need to be on site.

While the attacks have sparked public concern and prompted some residents to make contingency plans in case the city’s east and west sides are cut off, some Ukrainians also responded with characteristic levity.

On social media, users circulated AI-generated images of crowds crossing the Dnipro on paddleboards. One of the posts included the caption: “This is a case where a summer hobby suddenly became part of Kyiv’s transport infrastructure.”