Russian Strikes Injure Five Civilians and Hit Kyiv Bridge for Fourth Time
Civilian Injuries in Hostomel Attack
Russian forces attacked Hostomel in Kyiv Oblast on 2 October, injuring two people and sparking a fire in a warehouse and production facilities. [1] A 66-year-old man sustained burns to his body and a closed abdominal injury. [1] He was taken to a local hospital. [1] An 8-year-old girl suffered a shrapnel wound to a lower limb. [1] Firefighters are continuing to extinguish the fire at the warehouse and production premises. [1] The attack formed part of a broader pattern of strikes that also affected other areas of Ukraine on the same day. [3] Details from the incident highlight the direct impact on residents, including both adults and children in the affected community. [1]
Apartment Building Fire in Dnipro
Russian forces attacked Dnipro on the evening of 2 October, injuring three women. [2] The Russian attack caused a fire to break out in an apartment building. [2] Firefighters evacuated residents from the upper floors. [2] The rescue operation is ongoing. [2] Six people have already been saved from the high-rise. [2] So far three women have been reported injured. [2] Medics are providing them with all the necessary assistance. [2] The incident added to the evening's reports of civilian harm across multiple regions. [3]
Intensified Strikes Hit Kyiv Infrastructure
Intensified Russian drone and missile strikes are tearing Kyiv apart, the mayor of Ukraine's capital has warned. [3] Vitaliy Klitschko said the city was now in a very dramatic situation as Moscow was battering its critical infrastructure, logistics, housing and other key facilities. [3] He was speaking after Kyiv's defence council held a crisis meeting, following new Russian strikes on a key bridge that caused traffic chaos. [3] The city's data centres have also been recently hit, resulting in internet outages. [3] In the latest attack, a Russian drone hit cables of Kyiv's Pivdennyi bridge. [3] All metro and automobile traffic is now suspended across the bridge. [3] Russia's strikes caused huge traffic jams across Kyiv. [3] Restrictions are also in place on Kyiv's two other key bridges. [3] On Friday evening it was struck again, the fourth time in two days. [3] The bridge is one of the main transport arteries across the Dnipro River dividing western and eastern parts of Kyiv. [3] Kyiv's current population is estimated to be about three million, and many residents rely heavily on the city's metro network. [3] We're talking about survival, Klitschko said at Friday's defence council meeting with Kyiv's top military, security, emergencies and police officials. [3] Russia's aim was to sow panic, he said, stressing that the capital would prevail but only through the joint efforts of those who love it and care for it. [3]
Casualties and Damage in Capital
One person was killed in the capital when a multi-storey residential building was hit overnight, Ukraine's state emergencies service DSNS said. [3] A school was also struck by a drone with no casualties. [5] The drone attack on the school occurred on Thursday morning in Kyiv. [5] Following protocol, students were moved to the bunker and, despite the damage, there were no casualties. [5] In addition to bombing the school, the Russians also managed to hit one of the bridges over the Dnipro River with a drone just as a subway train was crossing it. [5] These are not military targets, nor are they on the front lines, President Zelensky emphasizes. [5] They are attacking to paralyze the city and prevent people from going to school or work, since their children cannot attend classes or daycare because of all these attacks. [5] The first thing the president lists among the enemy's objectives is logistics, including essentials such as food and hospital supplies. [5]
Zelensky on Russian Tactics
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin had decided in early September that there are no rules now when attacking Ukraine. [3] In a published excerpt from his interview with the Financial Times, Zelensky said the Russians have failed to occupy us. [3] So now they are carrying out massive attacks and mass killings. [3] They want to destroy our bridges, our data centres, the internet, mobile networks, hospitals, kindergartens, schools, universities, everything. [3] They want people to flee their cities. [3] They want Ukrainians, especially those in the capital, to leave. [5] In fact, that's what they were aiming for when the full-scale invasion began. [5] Putin's tactic is to escalate the conflict as much as possible, and he will do so. [5] And as the U.S. midterm elections approach, he will do so more and more. [5] Remember that in 2022, that was their goal: to get people to leave the capital to prove that, if you don't have the capital, you don't have a country, but our country is more than just the capital, and the capital remains strong. [5] They're trying to plunge Ukraine into chaos, and of course it's understandable that people are becoming demoralized. [5] The world can trust the Kremlin's messages and expect that Putin will escalate his actions as the elections approach to demonstrate his strength. [5]
Context of Mutual Energy Strikes
President Vladimir Putin earlier said Russia was acting in response to Ukraine's strikes on Russian energy facilities, despite the fact that it was Moscow that had first launched such attacks. [3] Putin insisted that Russia's attacks on Ukrainian economic targets were a direct response to Ukraine's strikes on Russia's oil refineries and its ships in the Black Sea. [3] Now from every direction we're receiving calls let's stop. [3] But they started it, Putin said after a wide-ranging speech at the Valdai foreign policy forum on Thursday. [3] Putin admitted Kyiv had got some results from its refinery attacks and Russia had lost about 1% of its GDP. [3] Ukraine maintains it began attacking Russian oil infrastructure because it helps the Kremlin finance the war. [3] Russia has targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure, ramping up attacks every winter since Putin launched a full-scale invasion in 2022. [3]
What to watch next: Further Russian strikes on bridges, data centres and schools as the U.S. midterm elections approach, according to assessments from Ukrainian leadership.
