Russian guided bombs kill two people and wound 32 in Kharkiv; airstrikes close Kyiv’s bridges again

Two people were killed and 32 others wounded on Friday in Kharkiv, after Russian guided bombs hit Ukraine’s second-largest city, while repeated drone attacks again closed key bridges over the Dnipro river in Kyiv, as the AAP agency reports.

The bombs fell in the Nemyshlianskyi and Slobidskyi districts, damaging about 20 residential and office buildings and destroying at least one house; an educational institution was also hit. Rescue teams searched the rubble for survivors, the regional governor and Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

On Friday evening, a Russian drone attack again struck the closed Southern Bridge (Pivdennyi) in Kyiv — the second consecutive day of attacks on bridges over the Dnipro river. Traffic was fully or partially suspended on three bridges, severely hampering movement between the capital’s two banks. Mayor Vitali Klitschko convened the city’s security council and described the situation as “very dramatic”.

Earlier on Friday, another Russian drone attack caused a fire on the upper floors of an apartment block in Kyiv: one person was killed and two wounded, according to AAP.

The Russian Defence Ministry claimed its drones had hit a bridge in Kyiv, a power plant near the capital, the port of Izmail and a cargo ship; it later added that it had also hit a data centre in Mykolaiv and a ship bound for Odesa. These are Moscow’s claims and have not been independently verified.

Ukrainian officials say the attacks are linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order last month lifting the restrictions on the air campaign — “no more rules” — first reported by the Financial Times. According to Kyiv, Moscow is trying to isolate the major cities before winter, striking critical transport and energy infrastructure.