Russia strikes Dnieper bridge in Zaporizhzhia, five reported injured
In short
Russian forces struck one of the bridges over the Dnieper in Zaporizhzhia overnight into 6 October, according to the head of the region's military administration, and traffic on the damaged crossing was closed. Meduza reported that five people were injured, two of them Red Cross staff. Russian official outlets said a bridge to Khortytsia island was hit and traffic suspended.
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Russian forces struck one of the bridges over the Dnieper in Zaporizhzhia overnight into 6 October, according to the head of the region's military administration, Mykhailo Semykin, as reported by Meduza. Traffic on the damaged bridge was closed. Meduza said five people were injured, two of them employees of the Red Cross. [ 1 ]
Russian official outlets confirmed a strike on a crossing. TASS, citing the Defence Ministry, said the bridge to Khortytsia was hit and traffic was suspended. RIA Novosti said a cable-stayed bridge in Zaporizhzhia was struck, and later published what it described as footage of the strike on a bridge used by Ukrainian forces. The Russian reports did not mention casualties, and the documents differ on how the bridge is identified. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Meduza also reported other strikes in the same period. On the evening of 5 October, a drone hit a nine-storey residential building in Zaporizhzhia; a fifth-floor flat and a sixth-floor balcony caught fire and two people were injured. In Kyiv overnight into 6 October, the roof of an educational institution in the Obolonskyi district caught fire, with no injuries reported. [ 1 ]
According to Meduza, Russian forces have struck Kyiv's bridges over the Dnieper several times since the start of October, with the Severny and Yuzhny bridges among those hit. The city has nine bridges over the Dnieper, and Meduza said they had not been attacked before. [ 1 ]
Why it matters
Meduza reported that Russian forces have struck Kyiv's Dnieper bridges several times since the start of October, and that those crossings had not been attacked before, putting the Zaporizhzhia strike in the same reported pattern of attacks on transport links. Closing a bridge over the Dnieper cuts a crossing in the city, as the documents state traffic on the damaged bridge was halted.
Key facts
- Russian forces struck one of the bridges over the Dnieper in Zaporizhzhia, the head of the region's military administration, Mykhailo Semykin, said, according to Meduza [ 1 ]
- Traffic on the damaged bridge was closed or suspended [ 1 , 2 ]
- Five people were injured, two of them employees of the Red Cross, according to Meduza [ 1 ]
- TASS, citing the Defence Ministry, said the bridge to Khortytsia was hit and traffic was suspended [ 2 ]
- RIA Novosti said a cable-stayed bridge in Zaporizhzhia was struck [ 3 ]
- RIA Novosti published what it described as footage of the strike on a bridge used by Ukrainian forces [ 4 ]
- Meduza reported that since the start of October Russian forces had struck Kyiv's bridges over the Dnieper several times, including the Severny and Yuzhny bridges, and that the city's nine Dnieper bridges had not been attacked before [ 1 ]
- Meduza reported that a drone hit a nine-storey residential building in Zaporizhzhia on the evening of 5 October, starting a fire in a fifth-floor flat and a sixth-floor balcony and injuring two people, and that a roof of an educational institution in Kyiv's Obolonskyi district caught fire overnight into 6 October with no injuries [ 1 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- The number of people injured in the bridge strike Only Meduza reported five injured, two of them Red Cross staff; the Russian official reports did not mention casualties.
- Which bridge was hit TASS referred to the bridge to Khortytsia, RIA Novosti to a cable-stayed bridge, and Meduza said only that it was one of the Dnieper bridges in Zaporizhzhia; the documents do not reconcile these descriptions.
- The exact timing of the strike Meduza said the strike took place overnight into 6 October, while the Russian official reports were published on 7 October without stating when the strike occurred.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Meduza reports the overnight strike on a Dnieper bridge in Zaporizhzhia: five injured, two of them Red Cross staff, traffic closed, and other strikes in Zaporizhzhia and Kyiv [ 1 ]
- TASS, citing the Defence Ministry, reports that the bridge to Khortytsia in Zaporizhzhia was hit and traffic suspended [ 2 ]
- RIA Novosti reports that a cable-stayed bridge in Zaporizhzhia was struck [ 3 ]
- RIA Novosti publishes what it describes as footage of the strike on a bridge used by Ukrainian forces [ 4 ]