Russian strike damages Kyiv bridge as attacks kill six across Ukraine

Russian strikes damaged a key Kyiv bridge, killed six people and disrupted movement in the capital. The attacks underscored an intensifying aerial war that is now unsettling neighbouring Moldova too.Stock photo used for illustrationKyiv,Oct 3, 2026 18:10 ISTRussian attacks in Ukraine killed at least six people and damaged a key bridge in Kyiv, disrupting movement in the capital for a third straight day. The latest strike came as the aerial war intensified, with Kyiv and Moscow both stepping up long-range attacks.Traffic on Kyiv's Northern Bridge was suspended after the attack damaged the road surface and trolleybus cables, Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said. No casualties were reported in the bridge strike, but it followed two days of Russian assaults that had already forced the full or partial closure of three of Kyiv's six road bridges across the Dnipro River.Russia's Defence Ministry confirmed on Saturday that it carried out the attack, saying the bridge is used to "facilitate troop movements and the logistics of military cargo deliveries" for Ukraine's armed forces. Videos on social media appeared to show the moment of impact as vehicles crossed the bridge, including footage said to have been recorded by a driver's dashcam.Russia has earlier struck apartment blocks, supermarket warehouses, petrol stations and data centres, among other targets. It invaded Ukraine more than 4 1/2 years ago, and there are no concrete signs of a possible peace settlement. Fighting along the roughly 1,250-kilometre front line running through northern, eastern and southern Ukraine has been virtually deadlocked in recent months. The aerial campaign has widened concerns in neighbouring Moldova. President Maia Sandu said on Saturday that the war is "dangerously reaching" her country after a series of airspace incursions."I condemn Russia's attack on Ukraine this morning. Its war is dangerously reaching Moldova," Sandu said in a post on X, adding that five "Russian air attack weapons, including Banderol missiles and drones, violated our airspace and exploded on our soil". "Moscow is putting lives at risk across Europe and must be stopped," she added. Ukraine's air force said Moscow launched Banderol cruise missiles overnight at the Odesa region, which shares a long land border with Moldova. It described them as low-cost, jet-powered loitering munitions used by Russia to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences.Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian attacks on Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, and nearby areas with drones and guided bombs on Friday and overnight killed five people and wounded more than 40, according to regional head Oleh Syniehubov. In nearby Izyum, Russian drone strikes wounded three people. The local military administration said one drone hit an industrial warehouse while another damaged homes.In the Odesa region, a sailor was killed and three others were wounded after Russian forces struck a civilian cargo ship on Saturday, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority said. It added that the ship was flying the Liberian flag.There were also reports of damage and casualties in Russian-held territory and inside Russia. In the occupied Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian drones killed two people and wounded two others, according to Kremlin-installed regional head Leonid Pasechkin. He said the drones hit a truck and a passenger car on a highway and that all the victims were civilians.In Russia, people were injured after Ukrainian drones struck the city of Kaluga overnight, damaging apartment buildings, regional Governor Vladislav Shapsha said. He did not immediately give figures but said 13 drones were shot down over the region during the night. In the Belgorod region, Ukrainian drone strikes killed one civilian and wounded two others in villages a few kilometres from the Ukrainian border, local authorities said on Saturday.The latest exchanges left Kyiv facing fresh disruption after repeated strikes on its bridges, while attacks across Ukraine, Russian-held territory and parts of Russia caused deaths, injuries and damage on both sides.With PTI Inputs- Ends