Drone strike damages Kyiv’s Southern Bridge

A later drone strike damaged Kyiv’s Southern Bridge on October 1, prompting officials to suspend traffic across the crossing after an earlier attack had led to an inspection that found no critical damage, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and city authorities. Klitschko said the later strike damaged a bridge support, a barrier, the roadway and the protective concrete structure around the metro line. He said traffic was suspended, including surface public transport and metro service across the bridge. The supplied reports do not establish how long the restrictions lasted or provide a final engineering assessment. The earlier attack also took place on October 1. City authorities said an inspection afterward found no critical damage, and traffic subsequently resumed. Reports differ on how many separate strikes hit or targeted the bridge and on their sequence, so the total number is unclear. The accounts describe the later strike as a renewed attack, but do not settle whether it was the second or a later strike. The Southern Bridge crosses the Dnipro River and carries road traffic as well as trains on Kyiv’s metro system.