Repeated Russian drone strikes damage Kyiv’s Northern Bridge and hit cars, schools and heating pipes
Russian drones have hit Kyiv’s Pivnichnyi (Northern) Bridge on consecutive mornings while traffic crossed, leaving a crater and closing a lane, as debris elsewhere in the city damaged parked cars, an educational institution and a major heating pipeline.
Kyiv’s main river crossings and basic utilities are under growing pressure as Russian drones again struck the capital’s Pivnichnyi (Northern) Bridge on 4 October while civilian traffic was on the span.
Footage from the scene shows a strike slamming into the roadway, throwing up a fireball and leaving a large crater in the bridge deck. Cars and a city bus appear in nearby lanes, with drivers steering past the flames. One traffic lane on the bridge has been closed because of the damage. The bridge has now come under attack for three consecutive days.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian drones hit the Pivnichnyi Bridge again on the morning of 4 October, describing it as part of a wider pattern of strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure. Russian sources present the bridge as a target because it carries military traffic, but the footage shows ordinary commuters on the deck at the time of impact.
Kyiv city authorities reported further damage away from the bridge. The Kyiv city military administration said debris from drones fell on parked cars in the Darnytskyi district and, at another location, on the grounds of an educational institution. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a heat pipeline was damaged in the Desnianskyi district, temporarily cutting hot water in that part of the city.
Zelensky said these attacks form part of a broader air campaign in which Russia used more than 1,900 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs and 25 missiles against Ukraine over the past week, including over 800 jet-powered drones. On 4 October, he said Russian Geran drones also struck a medical warehouse in Sumy, killing one person, and a communications facility in Dnipro, wounding six.
For Kyiv, the repeated focus on the Pivnichnyi Bridge highlights Russian efforts to disrupt movements between the right and left banks of the Dnipro River. Damage to heating and education facilities shows how drone fragments can affect everyday city life even when air defenses intercept or deflect incoming weapons.
Key signals to watch include whether Russia maintains daily pressure on the capital’s bridges, whether damage forces longer-term closures on any Dnipro crossings, and whether further strikes target key nodes such as heat pipelines, power infrastructure and communications hubs inside the city.
Sources
- OSINT