It is a capital nearly divided in two. What residents feared during the Battle of Kyiv in 2022 finally happened within a matter of days, following repeated Russian drone strikes against two of the main bridges spanning the Dnipro River since October 1. Footage of the aircraft crashing with explosions onto bridge cables or roadways, right in the middle of traffic, circulated widely across national media. While the structures were far from destroyed, the attacks and the temporary road closures that followed caused massive traffic jams and, for some residents, a deep sense of anxiety.

It takes a lot for the people of Kyiv to give in to fear. Since the intensification of attacks on the city in 2025, followed by broad daylight bombings of the city center since the end of August, there has been no sign of panic or a new exodus, at least for now. While fear could sometimes be seen in the eyes of passersby, and some rushed to the nearest shelter at every alert (now constant by night and by day), many continued to go about their business as if nothing had happened. In Ukraine, calm has also become fertile ground for resistance.

And while the announcements of strikes against the bridges over the Dnipro shocked residents, they did not come as a surprise. Perhaps that was because they were just the latest step in a major escalation of Russian bombardments targeting civilian infrastructure in the capital and, more broadly, the rest of the country. For weeks now, missiles and drones launched by Moscow's military have hit warehouses, shopping centers, postal services, railway and energy installations and, more recently, data centers and internet service providers.

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