KYIV, Oct 1 — Two Russian drones hit a major bridge connecting eastern and western Kyiv on Thursday, the Ukrainian capital’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The drones hit the support section of the Southern Bridge, he wrote on Telegram, adding: “At the moment, metro services and ground public transport across the bridge have been stopped.”

Russia has intensified its campaign of drone and missile strikes against Kyiv in recent months, putting the capital on a near-constant state of alert against attacks.

Footage shared on Telegram showed an explosion near one of the columns of the cable-stayed bridge, which carries both road traffic and trains from the Kyiv Metro.

One showed a column of thick black smoke rising into the air from the bridge, a key transport artery which crosses the Dnipro river dividing the city.

Klitschko said specialists were inspecting the bridge to assess the structural damage.

Ukraine’s air force said the number of Russian drone strikes on the country increased in September, with 3,177 attacks up to September 29. In August, 2,850 were recorded.

Russia has been using jet-powered attack drones that move at high speed and are harder to shoot down than the traditional models, which are based on Iranian Shaheds.

Ukraine has long feared a Russian attack on the bridges over the Dnipro, which are a lifeline for its estimated three million residents.

On Wednesday, Sergiy “Flash” Beskrestnov, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Russia had begun using a jet-powered drone designed to cut electricity pylons and steel bridge structures.

“I believe that the enemy is planning to attack critical high-voltage power transmission lines,” he wrote on Telegram.

Russia also said on Wednesday that it had targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, in what Kyiv said was the opening salvo of an expected campaign designed to cut power and heating in the coming winter. — AFP