Traffic gridlocked in Ukraine's capital as Russian drone strikes close key bridge

Ukraine has long feared an attack on its major transportation bridges since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Traffic was gridlocked in Kyiv on Friday after the one of the city's main bridges was closed and restrictions placed on others after another wave of Russian drone strikes.

Reporters in the city saw long queues of stationary cars and buses on main roads in the Ukrainian capital as commuters sought alternative routes.

Traffic built up due to the complete closure to traffic in both directions on the Southern Bridge, one of eight connecting the east and west of Kyiv over the Dnipro River.

The Paton Bridge, further north, was open only one way, city mayor Vitali Klitschko said, but there were no reports that it had been hit.

Russian drones struck the support structures of the Southern Bridge on Thursday. The crossing was temporarily closed while a structural assessment was made.

It reopened to traffic and Metro train services soon afterwards but suffered repeated drone strikes on Thursday night and early on Friday, Klitschko said.

The second on Thursday night damaged a bridge pier, the road surface and a protective concrete barrier along the subway line, he added.

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