Russian air strikes hit Kyiv's Southern Bridge again, mayor Klitschko says

Russian air strikes again hit the Southern Bridge in Kyiv on Friday 2 October, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. 1 2 Reuters reported that traffic across the Southern Bridge and the Paton Bridge was closed in both directions, authorities said, and redirected to alternative routes; AFP's later report, citing Klitschko, said the Southern Bridge was "completely closed" in both directions while the Paton Bridge was open one way only. 1 3 Meduza, citing Ukrainska Pravda, said drones attacked the Southern Bridge three times over several hours, and that traffic was also restricted on the Paton Bridge and the Metro Bridge, with public transit rerouted; it quoted UNIAN as describing "transportation chaos in Kyiv". 4

AFP said Russian drones struck the Southern Bridge's support structures on Thursday, that it was closed for a structural assessment and reopened, along with Metro services, before Klitschko said on Thursday night it had been hit again. 3 Klitschko said a fire broke out on the top floors of an apartment building, and that there was damage in another part of the city as well as to the bridge. 1 France 24 reports that at least one person was killed and two were injured in a Russian attack on a Kyiv apartment building, according to authorities on Telegram. It also says Russia targeted a school. 2

Emergency services said the dead person was found as firefighters put out a fire in a 25-storey residential building in Kyiv's Darnytskyi district; at least two others were wounded. 3 4 AFP noted that Ukraine has feared an attack on its major transport bridges since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, and that Kyiv has been under increasing Russian drone and missile bombardment in recent months. 3 On Thursday, Russian drones hit a school in Kyiv and the Southern Bridge over the Dnipro River, starting fires, as Moscow continues nearly daily, around-the-clock strikes on Ukraine, according to Reuters. 1

Ukraine, in turn, launched an overnight drone attack on industrial facilities in Volgograd, home to a large oil refinery. A governor said it caused a fire and injured one person after a drone hit an apartment building. 1 2 Reuters adds that President Vladimir Putin has said Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries have cost Russia 1% of its gross domestic product. 1 France 24's liveblog also covers a separate dispute: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Seoul would take "further measures" if Ukraine does not publicly apologise for disclosing the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea. 2