A Russian drone slammed into Kyiv's North Bridge on Sunday, sending a plume of fire and black smoke over the Dnipro River while cars were still crossing, on the same morning German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in the Ukrainian capital in a show of European support. Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed on Telegram that the strike damaged the roadway of the bridge, which had already been attacked on Saturday. No casualties were reported in the Sunday strike.
The timing carried a clear message. Air raid sirens sounded across Kyiv shortly after Merz's arrival under tight security, with warnings of approaching Russian attack drones, and images posted on messaging channels showed a projectile slamming into the bridge structure and erupting in a fireball. It was the second hit on the North Bridge in as many days, part of a round-the-clock campaign that has struck residential areas, petrol stations, schools, rail and communications infrastructure across the capital in recent days.
A visit held under air raid sirens
Merz travelled to Kyiv accompanied by Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche and a high-level economic delegation, including executives from Siemens Energy, Hensoldt, Diehl Defence and Quantum Systems. "I travelled to Kyiv today because Ukraine needs all our support in the coming weeks," the chancellor said, noting that Russian forces were bombing towns, residential buildings and heating plants as the fifth winter of the war approaches. "If Russia is not stopped, sooner or later its war machine will turn against us." He added that he would tell President Volodymyr Zelensky: "You can continue to count on our help."
The visit came one day after Russia's Foreign Ministry warned foreign nationals, including diplomatic staff, against staying in or travelling to Ukraine, saying responsibility for any consequences would rest with those who ignored the warning. Moscow said its armed forces would continue what it called targeted retaliatory strikes on military facilities in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. The strike on a civilian traffic bridge, during the visit of a NATO government's leader, underlined how far the campaign now extends beyond military targets.
One billion euros in military aid and a drone production deal
German officials said Merz would announce a package releasing €1 billion in military aid, alongside €350 million for repairs in Ukraine's heavily targeted energy sector. The visit was also expected to finalise an agreement for the joint production of various kinds of drones, missiles and related software, which Zelensky said on Wednesday, after a telephone call with Merz, was close to completion.
A key focus is the rapid production of interceptor drones able to down Russia's new fast-moving, jet-powered attack drones, which Moscow has used in dozens of daily attacks against civilian and military infrastructure since the summer. Germany's Quantum Systems has successfully tested such systems, and in April Quantum and Ukrainian manufacturer WIY Drones announced Quantum WIY Industries, a joint venture to produce the Strila interceptor drone and related air-defence technologies. German government sources said the new package includes combat drones and satellite technology to help Ukraine strike Russian launch sites. Merz is also expected to press Kyiv on reforms requested by EU partners, including in the fight against corruption.
Kyiv is placed on a war footing
Klitschko has said that Kyiv, largely spared the devastation seen near the front lines during nearly five years of conflict, should now be on a war footing because of the upsurge in attacks. The bridges over the Dnipro, which connect the eastern and western halves of the city, have become a focal point of that escalation, disrupting traffic and daily life for the capital's roughly three million residents ahead of the bitter winter months.
For Ukraine, the presence of the German chancellor in the capital on the very morning a bridge burned was the point of the visit: Russia can warn foreign leaders away and strike the city's arteries, but European support continues to arrive in person, with money, industrial deals and air-defence technology attached. How quickly the new interceptor production can scale will help determine whether Kyiv's bridges, power plants and neighbourhoods face this winter under a stronger shield.
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