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The Northern Bridge across the Dnipro river in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv was hit during a Russian air attack on Saturday, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Emergency services were deployed to the scene and traffic across the bridge from the east to the west bank was suspended following damage to the road surface and the overhead trolleybus cables.
There were no casualties reported. In the past two days, the Southern Bridge has been struck several times by Russian drones, forcing the temporary suspension of traffic across it and two other bridges across the river.
Earlier, Lithuania’s Vilnius airport was closed for an hour and Nato jets were scrambled after a suspected drone was reported to be flying into the country from Belarus, the country’s National Crisis Management Centre said.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, has instructed his generals to abandon the rules of war to capture more territory in Ukraine.
Russia has increasingly targeted Ukrainian cities, hitting key infrastructure that is keeping Ukraine’s war-battered economy afloat. Recent targets have included key industries, railways, data centres, energy infrastructure, as well as schools and hospitals.
Zelensky says Putin has told his generals ‘there are no rules now’ in Ukraine war
Volodymyr Zelensky says Russian president Vladimir Putin has instructed his generals to abandon the rules of war in pursuit of more territory in Ukraine, according to the Financial Times.
The Ukrainian president made the remarks during a visit to a bomb shelter inside a school that had been hit by a Russian drone on Thursday.
Zelensky said Putin gave the order last month, saying: “He said there are no rules now.” Russia has since stepped up its air strikes on civilian targets, particularly in Kyiv, hitting data centres and energy infrastructure as well as schools and hospitals.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin gestures as he addresses the audience during the Valdai Discussion Club meeting in Moscow on October 1 (AFP/Getty)
Russia still formally denies that it strikes civilian targets, and typically justifies its strikes as hitting military-linked buildings or infrastructure.
Zelensky cited intelligence from intercepted communications from Kremlin officials, the FT reported.
Read more
Adam Withnall2 October 2026 09:01
Russian strikes on Kyiv bridge causes traffic chaos
Russia struck a bridge over the Dnipro River that linked two sides of Kyiv, forcing full or partial traffic suspension across it.
A drone struck the Souther Bridge around 5.40pm local time yesterday, marking the second attack on the structure in two days.
Nearly 90 per cent of transit traffic between the two banks of the river passes through the Southern Bridge.
The latest attack also coincided with Kyiv’s evening rush hour.
The Russian aerial attacks on the bridge are part of an intensifying campaign on infrastructure across Kyiv, disrupting daily life in the Ukrainian capital.
They have led to long traffic jams across the city throughout the day.
Read more
Vishwam Sankaran3 October 2026 05:00
South Korea’s Lee accuses Zelensky of making him look like a ‘liar’
South Korean leader Lee has accused Ukraine of making him look like “a liar” by contradicting his earlier claim about a non-disclosure agreement with Kyiv.
Lee said on X that Seoul would take “additional measures” if Ukraine refused to admit the existence of the non-disclosure agreement and apologise publicly.
The diplomatic row between South Korea and Ukraine has emerged after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared to reveal a secret deal in which Kyiv would transfer North Korean prisoners of war to Seoul.
“This is a matter concerning the honour of the Republic of Korea’s people and nation; we cannot overlook it,” Lee said.
Vishwam Sankaran3 October 2026 13:30
Russia hits Liberian-flagged ship in Ukraine’s Odesa port, kills one
Russia attacked a Liberian-flagged cargo ship in one of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports in the Odesa region, killing one person and injuring three, the Ukrainian sea ports administration said on Saturday.
In a statement on the Telegram app it said that 13 other crew members were evacuated to safety.
As the war is in its fifth year, Russia effectively renewed its blockade of the Ukrainian Black Sea ports since the summer, disrupting trade routes, reducing grain and steel exports and dealing a heavy blow to the Ukrainian economy.
Maira Butt3 October 2026 13:00
Hungary welcomes Ukraine’s bill strengthening Hungarian minority rights
Hungary has welcomed Ukraine’s decision to submit a draft law to parliament seeking to strengthen the education rights of its ethnic Hungarian minority.
“The (Ukrainian) bill strengthens the legal guarantees of education in the Hungarian language and the network of educational institutions,” Hungarian prime minister Peter Magyar said in a Facebook post.
The move could help Kyiv get backing for its EU membership from Hungary, which had said that progress on boosting the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine is a prerequisite for Budapest’s backing of Ukraine’s EU accession.
Vishwam Sankaran3 October 2026 12:30
US-Russia talks on Ukraine involve multi-billion dollar oil deal, NYT reports
The Trump administration’s talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine have expanded to include a multibillion-dollar oil deal that would benefit Middle Eastern business executives with ties to US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
The deal, which is contingent on approval from the US government and the Kremlin, involves a sprawling set of oil fields, refineries and gas stations around the world owned by Lukoil, the NYT reported.
Rituparna Chatterjee3 October 2026 12:00
In Video: Russia intensifies strikes on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure
Unhandled: video-jwplayer
Vishwam Sankaran3 October 2026 11:30
One killed in drone attack on Russian-controlled part of Zaporizhzhia region
One person was killed following a drone attack in Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, the Moscow-installed governor of Russian-controlled parts of the region was cited as saying by the TASS news agency on Saturday.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield report.
Ten more were injured in the attack.
Rituparna Chatterjee3 October 2026 11:00
Second major bridge in Ukraine hit in Russian air attack
The Northern Bridge across the Dnipro river in Kyiv was hit during a Russian air attack on Saturday, mayor Vitali Klitschko said, amid an escalation in strikes on infrastructure in the Ukrainian capital.
Emergency services were deployed to the scene, the mayor said, and traffic across the bridge from the east to the west bank was suspended following damage to the road surface and the overhead trolleybus cables.
Smoke rises over a bridge spanning the Dnieper River following a drone attack in Kyiv on 2 October 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine (AFP/Getty)
There were no casualties reported.
In the past two days, the Southern Bridge has been struck several times by Russian drones, forcing the temporary suspension of traffic across it and two other bridges across the vast Dnipro river.
Over a third of the capital’s three million residents lived on the east, or “left”, bank of the Dnipro before Russia’s 2022 invasion, but the vast majority work on the western, or “right”, bank where most government institutions and companies are.
Memories of last winter, the worst of the war, are prominent in residents’ minds after Russia launched last week what was seen in Ukraine as the first salvo of an expected winter bombing campaign against power facilities supplying the capital.
Rituparna Chatterjee3 October 2026 10:54
One killed in Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Belgorod region
One person was killed and two more suffered injuries in a Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, the TASS state news agency reported on Saturday.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield report.
Rituparna Chatterjee3 October 2026 10:30