The Russian military again struck the North Bridge in Kyiv during the visit of the German Chancellor

On Sunday, the Russian military again struck the North Bridge in Kyiv; strikes on bridges across the Dnieper in the Ukrainian capital have been carried out for the fourth day in a row. Sunday's bombing came amid a visit to Ukraine by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. President Vladimir Zelensky promised to give an adequate response to the escalation by Russia.

At the time of the jet drone strike, cars were moving along the North Bridge.

As a result of the explosion, a meter-long hole was left on the roadway of the bridge. Two people were injured, one of them was hospitalized. Traffic now continues along one of the lanes of the damaged bridge.

The explosion also destroyed the heating plant running under the roadway, as a result of which the supply of hot water stopped in the north-eastern Desnyansky district of the capital.

The North Bridge has been bombed for the second day in a row. Previously, Russia had attacked the South Bridge, where the Dnieper metro line crosses. On October 2, after four drone strikes, Kyiv authorities completely blocked traffic on the South Bridge. On four other bridges across the Dnieper, restrictions have been introduced on the number of lanes used and traffic directions.

The Russian Ministry of Defense does not deny that it bombs bridges, but said on Sunday that the attack was carried out because the bridge is used to move troops and military supplies in the interests of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Shelling of other Ukrainian cities also continues. In the city of Sumy, which is located near the Ukrainian-Russian border, warehouses came under attack and one person died. In Dnieper, a communications center was hit, six people were injured.

Visit of Merz and “Turret” in Kyiv

On Sunday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv. He witnessed a new intensification of shelling: while President Zelensky showed Merz the Academy of Sciences building destroyed by shelling earlier in the week, sirens began to sound in the city, warning of a new air raid.

“Here we can see with our own eyes the senselessness of this war,” Merz said. — The barbaric attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine must stop. War crimes happen here every day.”

One of the topics of negotiations between the leaders of Germany and Ukraine was again the protection of the Ukrainian sky.

Zelensky said that Ukraine is able to shoot down 85 to 92% of standard suicide drones, but jet drones penetrate Ukrainian defenses in 30-50% of cases.

The President of Ukraine said that to protect Kyiv, 12 Turel systems have already been deployed to counter Russian jet drones. These autonomous, remote-controlled installations are equipped with anti-aircraft machine guns. According to Zelensky, eight more “Turrets” will appear in the Kyiv region in the near future, and in the future there will be dozens of such systems.

In Kyiv, Merz visited the plant of the German drone manufacturer Quantum Systems.

The parties also announced a new billion-euro ($1.13 billion) agreement to produce interceptor drones. Ukraine hopes that this will help neutralize the new generation of jet drones used by the Russian army.

According to Merz, several important breakthroughs have been achieved in development and production of interceptors is being ramped up. Germany, he said, also supplies Ukraine with combat drones and satellite systems so that the Ukrainian Armed Forces can attack drone launch sites on Russian territory. “If Russia is not stopped, its war machine will sooner or later be directed against us,” the chancellor said.

Another agreement signed in Kyiv concerned support for the Ukrainian energy sector on the threshold of a new winter in the face of targeted attacks by the Russian Federation on Ukrainian heat and electricity generation.

It is promised that 350 million euros will be used to purchase generators and transformers, as well as to pay for repair work on damaged networks.

What Zelensky said about the strikes

At a press conference following negotiations with the leader of Germany, President Zelensky emphasized that the Russian side was to blame for the escalation of hostilities.

“They attacked our warehouses of Nova Poshta and Ukrposhta [Ukrainian postal operators - Ed.] and so on. They hit! We gave them a decent answer regarding Wildberries,” he continued. “But now they’re hitting bridges—do they really think we won’t respond?”

“I am simply amazed at this animal desire to escalate every day. He [Putin – Ed.] is counting on constant escalation, he really wants it,” Zelensky said. “This is an answer to all those who believe that they just need to ask Putin and he will definitely end the war,” he added.

Russia is trying to present an expansion of targets for airstrikes as a response to the intensified shelling of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Russian territory. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that the Russian Armed Forces would intensify strikes throughout Ukraine in response to Zelensky's statements earlier this week. In them, he promised that Kyiv would intensify attacks on Russian oil refineries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke last week about the retaliatory nature of Russian attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector.

This statement is factually incorrect, since Russia made its first attempt to destroy the Ukrainian energy sector in winter conditions at the end of 2022, long before the first successful strikes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Russian oil refining facilities. With greater or lesser intensity, Russia continued to use these tactics throughout the four and a half years of the war it began in February 2022.