Kyiv will build new water crossings over the Dnipro River, Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced on 27 October, as city specialists work on further technical measures to protect the structures of the river's existing bridges.
Klitschko said the capital's Defence Council had examined how to keep the city's bridges operating safely "given the intensifying Russian attacks on critical infrastructure."
The council also reviewed how to carry out a project to construct combined water crossings over the Dnipro, along with access roads leading to them. The mayor recalled that the state had put the initiative forward and that the government had adopted a resolution on it.
Under the arrangement described by Klitschko, the military command will decide where the crossings are placed. Several bodies, including the Kyiv City Military Administration, will then have to approve those locations.
On the government's recommendation, the city will find UAH 1 billion, equivalent to about US$22 million, for the project, the mayor reported.
Klitschko added that specialists from the relevant city institutions are "developing additional technical solutions to preserve the structures of the bridges over the Dnipro River." He did not elaborate on what those solutions involve.
The announcement follows recent strikes that have affected one of the city's key river crossings. During the overnight attack on Kyiv between 26 and 27 October, a Russian missile hit the Pivdennyi (Southern) Bridge, and the bridge was temporarily closed to traffic.
The same bridge was affected earlier in the week. On the night of 21 to 22 October, Russian forces attacked Kyiv with ballistic missiles. An ambulance station in the Pecherskyi district was damaged, and metro infrastructure on the Pivdennyi Bridge was struck, which led to traffic restrictions.
