Mayor Warns Kyiv Faces Severe Strain Amid Escalating Russian Strikes

“We are discussing survival,” Klitschko said at Friday’s defence council meeting with Kyiv’s top military, security, emergency and police officials.

He said Russia’s aim was to “sow panic,” adding that Kyiv would “prevail—but only through the collective effort of those who love and care for the city.”

The mayor spoke just hours after Kyiv’s vital Pivdennyi (Southern) bridge was struck in an overnight Russian drone attack; it was hit again Friday evening, marking the fourth hit in two days.

The bridge serves as a major transport artery across the Dnipro River, linking Kyiv’s western and eastern districts.

Metro and automobile traffic across the bridge have been suspended, creating significant delays throughout the city, with similar restrictions imposed on Kyiv’s two other key bridges.

Kyiv’s population is estimated at roughly three million, and many residents depend heavily on the city’s metro system.

One person was killed in the capital when a multi‑storey residential building was struck overnight, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (DSNS).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin decided in early September that “there are no rules anymore” when it comes to attacking Ukraine.

In an excerpt from his interview with the Financial Times, Zelensky stated: “The Russians have failed to occupy us; consequently, they are now launching massive attacks and mass killings.”

“They aim to destroy our bridges, data centres, internet, mobile networks, hospitals, kindergartens, schools, universities—essentially everything. Their goal is to drive people out of their cities.”

Putin insisted that Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian economic targets are a direct response to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries and vessels in the Black Sea.

“Now we are hearing calls from every direction to ‘let’s stop,’ but they started it,” Putin said following his wide‑ranging Thursday speech at the Valdai foreign policy forum.

Putin acknowledged that Kyiv had achieved “some results” from its refinery strikes and that Russia had lost roughly 1% of its GDP. Ukraine maintains it began targeting Russian oil infrastructure because it helps finance the Kremlin’s war effort.

Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure, intensifying its attacks each winter since Putin launched the full‑scale invasion in 2022.

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