Traffic chaos in Kyiv as Russian drone strikes close key bridge

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - KYIV — Traffic across Kyiv was brought to a near standstill on Friday morning after a wave of Russian drone strikes overnight forced authorities to close or restrict several key bridges across the Dnipro River.

The Southern Bridge was completely closed in both directions, while traffic was restricted on the Paton and Metro bridges, disrupting the main routes between Kyiv’s left and right banks, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration.

The closures triggered massive traffic jams across the capital, with severe congestion reported in Pechersk, along Dniprovska Embankment, and on routes connecting the two banks. Some Kyiv residents abandoned their vehicles and continued on foot, local media reported.

Reporters in the city saw long queues of stationary cars and buses on main roads in the Ukrainian capital as commuters sought alternative routes.

Russian drones struck the support structures of the Southern Bridge on Thursday. The crossing was temporarily closed while a structural assessment was made.

It reopened to traffic and Metro train services soon afterwards but suffered repeated drone strikes on Thursday night and early on Friday, city mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The Paton Bridge, further north, was open only one way, Klitschko said, but there were no reports that it had been hit.

Ukraine has long feared an attack on its major transportation bridges since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Kyiv has been increasingly under aerial bombardment from Russian drones and missiles in recent months, putting the city on near-constant alert and disrupting daily life.

Air raid sirens warning of approaching threats in the skies sound almost round the clock, urging the city's estimated 3 million people to seek shelter.

Repeated strikes on trains and petrol stations have already hit the rail and road networks.

The latest Russian attacks killed one person and wounded at least two other people when a 25-story residential building was hit in southeast Kyiv.

The victim was found as firefighters put out a blaze caused by the blast.

President Volodymyr Zelensky urged countries to tighten sanctions to prevent Russia from manufacturing its new jet-powered drones, faster and harder to intercept than previous models, which he said were "critically dependent" on foreign components.

"Every Russian drone can actually be stopped right at the production line," he wrote on social media on Friday. "What is needed is the political will of these countries."

"If the Kremlin has chosen more strikes, sanctions must work and must be strengthened."

Zelensky has repeatedly called on Ukraine's Western allies for more military support, particularly for US-made Patriot missile interceptors.

On Thursday evening, he said Ukraine had used its FP-7 tactical ballistic missile in combat for the first time, without disclosing where or what it had been used against.