Ukraine plans 21 alternative bridge crossings, with work under way in Kyiv and the first due early next year, after repeated Russian strikes on the capital’s bridges.
KYIV: Ukraine has begun building new bridges over the Dnipro river in Kyiv, its transport minister said Friday, as the war-torn country faces increasing Russian attacks targeting its key infrastructure.
The Ukrainian capital of around three million people has seen its bridges repeatedly struck by Russian drones, suspending traffic and stranding citizens in long traffic jams.
Ukraine’s Transport Minister Mykola Kalashnyk said the government has approved the “rapid construction of alternative bridge crossings over rivers, including across the Dnipro”.
“In total, the implementation of 21 bridge crossings is planned. Work in Kyiv has already begun,” Kalashnyk told lawmakers on Friday.
“The first bridges will become operational at the beginning of the year”.
He did not specify what kind of bridges were being built or their expected capacity.
The latest Russian strike to damage one of Kyiv’s five major bridges, the Southern Bridge, came on Tuesday, suspending car traffic.
It was partially restored on Friday, according to Ukrainian media.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko told AFP in an interview earlier this month that the city was “working with the Restoration Agency, which has taken on the task of building pontoon crossings in a worst-case scenario.”
“But let’s be honest: pontoon crossings cannot fully replace bridge connections,” he added.
