Russian aerial attacks forced the partial closure of three bridges over the Dnipro River in Kyiv, causing traffic jams and disrupting movement across the Ukrainian capital, Associated Press reports, citing Kyiv’s mayor.
The strikes forced the full or partial closure of three of the city’s six road bridges. They appeared to represent a new tactic in Russia’s campaign to disrupt life in Kyiv, after previous attacks hit apartment blocks, supermarket warehouses, filling stations and data centres.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia launched more than 100 drones at Ukraine overnight, striking Kyiv and eight other regions. Nearly half were jet-powered drones, which he said are particularly difficult to intercept. A drone hit a high-rise apartment block in Kyiv, killing one person, while at least four others were reported wounded elsewhere.
The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, said civilians were bearing the brunt of the war and described the conflict as a “human rights catastrophe” that was intensifying by the week.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Kyiv had received separate proposals for a partial truce from the US, India, Turkey and Egypt. The proposals would halt attacks on energy infrastructure and on Black Sea shipping used to transport grain and other agricultural products, he said.
Sybiha said Ukraine was ready for an energy and Black Sea ceasefire if it also stopped Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries. He repeated Kyiv’s offer of an unconditional ceasefire along the front line, but said Moscow had rejected it in favour of a comprehensive peace agreement.
Russia’s deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, said Ukraine attacked four Russian oil refineries overnight, but that air defences prevented damage to key equipment. One person was wounded in an attack targeting “industrial infrastructure” in Russia’s south-western Volgograd region, the regional governor, Andrei Bocharov, said.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its air defences had downed 646 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, occupied Crimea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. The claim could not be independently verified from the supplied evidence.
The aerial war has intensified as fighting along the roughly 770-mile front line has become virtually deadlocked. The Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces lost control of almost 116 square miles between March and September and that the Russian military suffered more than 46,000 casualties in September. The report did not provide a corresponding Ukrainian casualty figure.
Sybiha said Ukraine was seeking 300 Patriot missiles from partner countries, citing intelligence estimates that Russia has 600 ballistic missiles in reserve and can produce up to 140 a month. He also said Ukraine needed funding to contract future drone production.
The European Commission said it had disbursed €2.9 billion (£2.5 billion) to Ukraine in its latest financing package. Kyiv faces a projected budget deficit of roughly £20 billion this year, while Russia is also facing economic and financial pressure from high military spending and debt.
