Russian attack damages Kyiv bridge, leaving one dead in surrounding region

Kyiv’s Northern Bridge was closed to traffic in both directions after a Russian attack damaged its road surface, trolleybus wires and a power line, mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Road and utility workers were at the bridge on 7 November, he said.

Ukraine’s emergency service put the number of people hurt in the capital at six, including a child, Interfax Ukraine reported. Klitschko had earlier reported five injured, including a 14-year-old, and said two people were taken to hospital.

In the surrounding Kyiv region, police reported one death and two other people affected in Brovary district. Regional governor Tymur Tkachenko said the man who died had been seriously injured the previous evening and died in hospital.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia used 172 drones and 36 ballistic missiles in the wider attack, with all the missiles directed at Kyiv and its surrounding region. Ukraine’s air force also reported 172 drones, a figure that included decoys, and said the attack began at 6pm local time on 6 November.

Zelensky reported serious difficulties with electricity, water and heating in the capital and said substations in the Kyiv region had been hit. Klitschko later said the city’s water system was operating normally and 60% of its blocks of flats had been connected to heating. The city was already dealing with disruption after a separate attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on 3 November.

Russia’s defence ministry said it had struck the bridge as part of an attack on military industry and energy and transport infrastructure. It claimed the bridge was used to transport weapons and military equipment, but its statement gave no details of any such transport.