Russia hits Kyiv's Northern Bridge again as overnight drone barrage targets Ukrainian cities during Merz visit

Why it matters

The Northern Bridge is one of the main crossings over the Dnipro connecting Kyiv's right and left banks; a second strike in two days, combined with the full closure of the Southern Bridge since 1–2 October, puts the capital's transport under severe strain heading into winter. The attack coincided with Chancellor Merz's visit, lending the strike symbolic weight and tying it to the announcement of new German military and energy-sector aid for Ukraine. The 135-drone overnight barrage, with interceptions reported at roughly 91%, illustrates the intensity of Russia's current aerial campaign against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

What happened

On the morning of 4 October, a Russian drone hit the roadway of the Pivnichnyi (Northern) Bridge in Kyiv, the second strike on that bridge in two days. A large crater formed in the road surface and one lane was effectively closed; two people were injured, one hospitalised and one treated on site. The strike also damaged a heating main in the Desnianskyi district, leaving residents temporarily without hot water while utility teams worked on repairs. Public-transport routes were rerouted, with trolleybuses Nos. 29, 30, 31 and 47 diverted to Darnytsia Square on the left bank and to Pochaina metro station on the right bank, and buses Nos. 21, 73, 101 and 114 redirected via Darnytsia Square and the Podilskyi bridge crossing; buses Nos. 22 and 91 between banks were rerouted via the Darnytskyi Bridge.

The bridge strike was part of a broader overnight Russian drone attack on Ukraine launched from 18:00 on 3 October. Russia used 135 strike drones, including 52 reactive Shaheds, plus Gerbera drones, Banderol/Dan-T missiles and Parodia-type decoys, launched from directions including Orel, Kursk, Millerovo and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia and from occupied Donetsk and Hvardiiske in Crimea. As of 08:30 on 4 October, Ukrainian air defence had shot down or suppressed 123 of the Shahed, Gerbera and other drones and two Banderol/Dan-T missiles, with hits recorded at five locations and debris from downed drones falling at another five. In Kyiv, debris struck a private house and open ground in the Dnipro district with no fire, started a blaze at a non-residential building in Desnianskyi, fell on a parked car and the grounds of a school in Darnytskyi, and ignited a fire in an unfinished four-storey building in Holosiivskyi that was extinguished by rescuers with no casualties. In Boryspil district of Kyiv Oblast, drone hits damaged a medical facility, a church, a primary school, a café, six private houses and a car, with no casualties. Zelenskyy reported that overnight strikes also hit a medical supplies warehouse in Sumy, killing one person, and a communications enterprise in Dnipro, with six wounded in total across those and the Kyiv bridge strikes.

How Ukrainian sources describe it

Ukrainian reporting centres the consequences inside Kyiv: debris falls and fires in specific districts (Desnianskyi, Dnipro, Holosiivskyi, Darnytskyi), the damaged heating main and loss of hot water in Desnianskyi, and the public-transport reroutings across the Northern Bridge. It links the bridge strikes to the still-closed Southern Bridge from the 1–2 October attacks and to the wider Dnipro-crossing crisis, noting that Ukraine's Minister of Restoration, Infrastructure and Transport Mykola Kalashnyk had already announced plans for reserve embankment and pontoon crossings to cover at least 50% of bridge capacity within up to three months. Zelenskyy's weekly tally — more than 1,900 strike drones, 1,700 aerial bombs and 25 missiles against Ukraine over the preceding week, with over 800 reactive drones — frames the bridge strikes as part of an escalating Russian aerial campaign ahead of winter. Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, quoted in reporting, described the city's situation as "very dramatic" as Russia struck critical infrastructure, logistics and housing. Domestic coverage also highlights the symbolism of the bridge attack happening during Chancellor Merz's visit and the announced Ukrainian-German agreements to strengthen defence.

How international sources describe it

International coverage frames the 4 October strike as happening during Chancellor Merz's surprise visit to Kyiv, emphasising both the symbolism of the timing and the substance of the German package he was to announce: €1 billion in military aid and €350 million for Ukraine's energy-sector recovery, alongside his statement that Ukraine faces decisive weeks and that Germany's own security depends on the war's outcome. English-language reporting and Reuters-cited accounts foreground Russia's prior Foreign Ministry warning to foreign citizens and diplomats to leave Kyiv, and Russia's stated claim that the bridges were hit because they carry Ukrainian troops and military cargo. The New York Times warned of a possible "logistical nightmare" for the capital if crossings remain closed for prolonged periods, while EU Ambassador Maternova condemned the strike, said it cuts off the two banks of the Dnipro and blamed Russia alone, citing the EU's €28.3 billion in approved defence procurement plans for Ukraine this year and €6.6 billion in military aid. The international framing thus centres the attack as a strategic signal against Ukraine's logistics, paired with renewed Western support in response.

Where reporting differs

Sources differ on the number of air-raid alerts declared in Kyiv during the night of 3–4 October: some Ukrainian accounts report two or three alerts, while a later consolidated account counts up to six alerts overnight. Sources also differ on whether to attribute the Friday transport collapse specifically to the 1–2 October strikes on the Southern Bridge alone (one Kyiv-focused account) or to the broader sequence of 1–2 October Southern Bridge strikes followed by 3–4 October Northern Bridge strikes (the broader reporting).

Background

The Northern Bridge strike on 4 October followed a sequence of Russian attacks on Kyiv's Dnipro crossings. On 1–2 October, Russian drones hit the Southern (Pivdennyi) Bridge five times, damaging the roadway, a bridge support, crash barriers and the protective concrete covering of the metro; the bridge was fully closed to vehicular and metro traffic, producing a transport collapse with main thoroughfares paralysed and passengers crossing on foot. On 3 October a Russian drone struck the Northern Bridge, damaging the road surface and trolleybus contact network and injuring two people. Russia's Foreign Ministry had warned foreign citizens and diplomats to leave Kyiv ahead of new strikes; Russia said the bridges were targeted because they are used to transfer Ukrainian troops and military cargo. On the same day, Ukraine's Minister of Restoration, Infrastructure and Transport Mykola Kalashnyk said reserve embankment and pontoon crossings, designed to cover at least 50% of bridge capacity within up to three months, would be built if bridges were damaged. On 28 September President Zelenskyy said Ukrainian air defence intercepts about 70% of drones in mass attacks (57% of reactive ones); on 29 September he said Ukraine had identified the first prototypes of weapons designed to shoot down reactive Shaheds.