RUSSIA STRIKES KYIV BRIDGE AS GERMAN CHANCELLOR VISITS CITY

Russia struck Kyiv's Northern Bridge with a drone, injuring two people, mayor Vitali Klitschko said. The strike came shortly after German chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced visit to show Germany's support for Ukraine. Footage showed the drone hitting the roadway as cars crossed, causing an explosion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Merz residents were suffering "terrible nights and days" from Russian attacks. Merz said: "we can see the entire pointlessness of this war at this place."

It was the second Kyiv bridge struck in two days and the fourth consecutive day of such attacks, reports said. Russia had already damaged the Northern Bridge and repeatedly struck the Southern Bridge, prompting restrictions on five of the six bridges over the Dnipro. Russia separately attacked a Liberian-flagged ship in Ukraine's Odesa region, killing one person and injuring three, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority said. Twelve crew members were evacuated safely, and reports put the overall death toll from the exchange of long-range strikes at five. Germany has become Ukraine's biggest provider of military aid since Merz took office in May 2025, overtaking the United States.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence had found evidence Russia adopted a "new doctrine" of striking roads, schools and hospitals to force residents to leave Kyiv and other cities. Merz said: "if Russia is not stopped, its war machine will sooner or later turn against us." Zelenskyy said Ukraine planned to respond to the shift but not by indiscriminately targeting civilian sites, adding: "we have to respond on their energy." The strikes form part of a wider Russian campaign that has included attacks on vessels carrying grain and steel from Ukraine's Black Sea ports.