Russian drones hit Kyiv’s Pivdennyi bridge as capital faces stepped-up winter campaign

Two Russian drones struck Kyiv’s Pivdennyi (Southern) bridge on Thursday morning, suspending metro service across one of the capital’s main Dnipro River crossings and marking what Ukrainian and Western reporters described as a new phase in Moscow’s campaign against urban infrastructure.

The BBC reported that one drone hit the base of a central stanchion while a metro train was on the span; passengers said blast dust entered carriages through ventilation, though city authorities later said preliminary checks found no critical structural damage and road traffic eventually resumed. Earlier the same morning a drone slammed into a school’s third floor; more than 100 students reached a shelter and none were hurt, head teacher Valentyna Chorna told reporters. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia must be held fully accountable.

The bridge strikes followed Wednesday’s first co-ordinated attacks on Kyiv’s energy grid since the end of last winter, which returned power cuts to the capital. Ukrainian officials say a new jet-powered drone design with a roughly 40-kilogram warhead — optimized for pylons and iron bridges — entered service this week. Air force figures cited by the BBC put September launches of such drones at least at 3,177, stressing Ukraine’s air-defence shortages as winter approaches.

Al Jazeera separately reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking in Moscow the same day, ruled out a ceasefire on long-range strikes even as he said Russia preferred ending the conflict through talks that would leave Ukraine neutral.

Sources: BBC News; Al Jazeera.