KYIV — A Russian drone slammed into Kyiv’s Pivnichnyi (Northern) Bridge on Sunday morning, the second strike on the crossing in as many days and the fourth consecutive day Moscow has hit the capital’s bridges — landing just after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pulled into the city by train on an unannounced visit to air raid sirens, explosions and air defenses firing.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the strike damaged the bridge’s roadway and ruptured a heating main, temporarily cutting hot water to the northeastern Desnyanskyi district. Two people were injured, Klitschko said. Footage verified by the BBC shows the moment the drone crashed into the bridge as cars were still crossing, erupting in a fireball and a plume of black smoke.
Merz traveled to Kyiv to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and show support as Russia escalates its campaign against the capital’s infrastructure. Writing on X, he said: “Ukraine is facing decisive weeks. That is why I travelled to Kyiv today with the message: You can rely on us.” He added that Germany’s own security “depends on the outcome of this war” and pledged further aid to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses. The two leaders laid tributes at the makeshift memorial to fallen Ukrainian soldiers on Independence Square.
The strike is part of a systematic campaign. On Thursday and Friday, the Pivdennyi (Southern) Bridge — which carries ground transport and the city subway — was hit five times in under 24 hours. Earlier in the week three of the city’s six road bridges over the Dnipro were shut. Ukrainian officials say Moscow is trying to split the capital in two: the city’s eight Dnipro crossings carry some 500,000 vehicles a day, and the left bank — mostly residential — depends on them. “To get from the left bank to the right one and back – it’s just hell,” Kyiv resident Roman told the BBC on Sunday.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it struck the Northern Bridge as a route used to transport troops and military equipment, and said two cargo vessels carrying military equipment to the port of Odesa were also struck. On Saturday, Moscow said it had hit a logistics center in the Kyiv region. Zelenskyy said Russia launched more than 1,900 attack drones in the past week alone, over 800 of them jet-powered models designed to slip past air defenses.
