Russia is now also specifically attacking the bridges over the Dnipro River in Kiev. On Saturday morning, an attack drone hit the north bridge, injuring two people and damaging the overhead line network. Several lanes were still closed to traffic in the afternoon. Several Russian drones hit the south bridge on Thursday and Friday. Some of them hit the road, but also flew into the stay cables that support the bridge structure. This bridge has been closed to traffic ever since.
Russia probably won't be able to destroy the bridges in this way. These are massive structures; the southern bridge over the wide Dnipro is more than a kilometer long. However, the impacts lead to damage and traffic disruptions. In addition to vehicles, a subway line also runs across the south bridge, but this too is now interrupted. That's why even more people are turning to cars and traffic is building up.
Many Kiev residents live on the eastern side of the Dnipro, the so-called left bank, and travel to the other side to work. If one or even several bridges are closed, gigantic traffic jams form and clog the open bridges. On Friday, images on social media showed scores of people crossing the bridges on foot. Local media spoke of a traffic gridlock on Friday.
These targeted strikes are part of Russia's escalation of the air war in recent weeks. The attacks continue to target numerous cities, but the capital and its surrounding areas are particularly in focus. Warehouses, gas stations, supermarkets and data centers are hit there every day. Power plants are also increasingly in focus. Permanent air alerts make it difficult to maintain everyday life; shopping centers, for example, have to close for hours during opening hours. In this way, Moscow not only wants to harm the Ukrainian economy, but also demoralize the population.
During a visit to a school in Kiev that was hit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Financial Times on Thursday that Russia's ruler Vladimir Putin had decreed in September that there would no longer be any restrictions on the air campaign. The president cited intelligence findings.
Russia is currently attacking Ukraine with over a hundred drones almost every day. According to the Air Force, two thirds of them are now equipped with jet propulsion, while a third are still traditionally powered by propellers. According to Ukrainian estimates, Russia can produce around 3,000 fast jet-powered drones per month. The latest models are called Geran-4 and Geran-5, but they are still popularly referred to as “Shaheds” after the Iranian original.
The latest version, the Geran-5, has little to do with its Iranian predecessor apart from the name. Visually, it is more reminiscent of a cruise missile than a drone, and its top speed of 600 kilometers per hour far exceeds that of classic propeller drones. However, its destructive power is low compared to a cruise missile, as the warhead of the Geran-5 only weighs around 90 kilograms. For this purpose, the drones are equipped with night vision cameras and automated target detection with AI. Even if the drone's connection breaks off during a dive due to jamming, it can still find its target.
The controls have also evolved. While propeller drones used to often fly on fixed routes to designated destinations, the new drones are more often controlled by pilots. The drones are connected to the Internet via so-called mesh modems. The image signal is transmitted to the drone pilot, who is based in Russia. For this to work, the drones rely on relay stations that Russia has set up near the border with Ukraine and also in Belarus.
What is worrying from a Ukrainian perspective is that Russian Telegram channels have been distributing videos in recent days showing the impact on the southern bridge from the perspective of other Russian drones. This makes it clear how undisturbed Russian drones can now operate while flying over the Ukrainian capital. The Ukrainian president's innovation advisor, Serhiy "Flash" Bekrestinov, expressed the suspicion on social media on Saturday that so-called repeaters are hidden in Kiev itself, which are activated to enable the drones to approach a precise target.
Ukraine has made great progress in defending against propeller-driven drones in recent months. A good 95 percent of the “old” drones are now intercepted, while the new versions with jet propulsion are only expected to have an interception rate of just under 60 percent. Defense is made more difficult by the fact that the jet-powered drones initially fly into the target area at an altitude of around five kilometers and then plunge steeply down. The mobile fire groups with flatbed trucks and machine guns in the surrounding areas of the cities are powerless against such high-flying drones.
Kyiv's only option is to deploy expensive ground-based air defense systems. Or to hunt the drones with fighter aircraft, which can also shoot down the drones with their on-board cannon for cost reasons. F-16, Mirage and MiG-29 fighter jets can be heard during attacks in Kiev and its suburbs these days. According to Zelensky, the American F-16s have proven effective in defending against the new drones. However, around half of the aircraft fleet is currently not operational due to repairs.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian engineers are working hard on cheaper solutions. Zelensky told the Financial Times that they are currently testing five different models of interceptor drones. One of them has already proven itself and around 400 copies can be produced by the end of October. The problem is the jet engines, most of which have to be imported. There is also probably a financial bottleneck; Ukraine already lacks money for defense.
