Kyiv Mayor Warns of "Dramatic Situation" Amid Intensified Russian Strikes
Critical infrastructure, including bridges, is under attack, causing widespread disruption and civilian casualties.
Kyiv is facing a "very dramatic situation" as intensified Russian strikes target critical infrastructure, according to Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko. The capital's mayor warned that Russia's aim is to "sow panic" by attacking key transport arteries, data centers, and other essential services.
The Pivdennyi (Southern) bridge, one of the main transport routes across the Dnipro River, has been struck multiple times in recent days, leading to the suspension of metro and automobile traffic. Restrictions are also in place on two other major bridges, causing significant delays across the city of approximately three million residents.
These attacks have resulted in civilian casualties, with one person killed when a multi-storey residential building was hit overnight, according to Ukraine's state emergencies service. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated in an excerpt from a Financial Times interview that Russian President Vladimir Putin decided in early September that "there are no rules now" when attacking Ukraine.
"The Russians have failed to occupy us. So now they are carrying out massive attacks and mass killings," Zelensky said. He added that Russia aims to destroy bridges, data centers, internet and mobile networks, hospitals, kindergartens, schools, and universities, with the objective of forcing people to flee their cities.
Putin, however, insisted that Russia's attacks on Ukrainian economic targets are a direct response to Ukraine's strikes on Russia's oil refineries and its ships in the Black Sea. Speaking at the Valdai foreign policy forum, Putin claimed that Ukraine "started it," though he acknowledged that Kyiv's refinery attacks had yielded results, contributing to a loss of about 1% of Russia's GDP. Ukraine maintains that its attacks on Russian oil infrastructure are a necessary measure to hinder the Kremlin's war financing.
Russia has historically targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure, escalating these attacks each winter since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. The current wave of strikes highlights a continued pattern of Russia targeting civilian infrastructure to exert pressure on Ukraine.