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.
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.
Zelensky says 'not fair to normalise' ties with Russia before return to peace
After the Trump administration invited Vladimir Putin to attend a G20 summit in Miami in December and discussed business deals with Russian envoys, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky urged Washington not to normalise relations with Russia before ensuring a return to peace.
Zelensky said he would be happy to meet Putin for peace talks at the G20, but he warned the US not to believe in "illusions" that Russia would simply end hostilities if it gained control of Donbas.
"It's not fair just to normalise," said Zelensky, dressed in his trademark black T-shirt and military-style jacket.
Any resumption of economic and diplomatic ties with the West had to be in return for Russia ending hostilities, he said: "Because peace is more important than any kind of economy."
While the US has proposed a resumption of trilateral talks in the coming weeks in the UAE, Zelensky noted that an exact date and location for the technical-level conversations had still not been set.
German chancellor arrives in Kyiv
Germany's chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv today, pledging support for Ukraine.
Merz arrived along with the chiefs of German defence companies, in a show of support for president Volodymyr Zelensky amid escalating Russian attacks.
"I travelled to Kyiv today because Ukraine needs all our support in the coming weeks," the German chancellor said.
"If Russia is not stopped, sooner or later its war machine will turn against us,” he said, adding that Ukraine can “count on our help”.
Latvia's pro-Ukraine prime minister wins election
Latvia’s pro-Ukraine prime minister Andris Kulbergs' United List party has won the country’s parliamentary election held yesterday by a wide margin.
The election was held in the shadow of the Russia-Ukraine war, with many voters on edge amid warnings of potential Russian aggression.
Baltic countries have warned for months that Russia is mounting sabotage, cyber and other hybrid attacks across Europe to erode support for Ukraine and sow fear.
But Western officials dismiss concerns that Moscow is capable of launching a direct assault on Nato, of which Latvia is also a member.
Russia has dismissed such accusations as baseless and the result of anti-Russian hysteria.
Ukrainian counteroffensive 'Vivaldi' ongoing in Donbas
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive, code-named "Vivaldi", had recaptured around 140sqkm (54sqm) of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region and was still ongoing.
Russia has said it must control Donbas in its entirety as a condition for any peace deal.
In recent weeks, US president Donald Trump's administration has sought to revive talks to end the four-year-old conflict – Europe's bloodiest since Second World War.
The US leader last month urged Ukraine to refrain from hitting Russian oil installations, saying that was sending global diesel prices surging.
But Zelensky, speaking as air raid sirens blared outside the gilded halls of the presidential offices, said he had received no indications from Russia that Putin was interested in peace talks, or discussing a ceasefire on energy infrastructure.
Putin has issued 'new doctrine' of striking civilian targets in Ukraine, Zelensky says
Ukraine's intelligence services has obtained documents showing that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had issued a "new doctrine" of military attacks on a much broader range of civilian targets ahead of this winter, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Ukraine will double down on attacking Russian oil refineries in response to the new policy of airstrikes designed to force people to abandon Kyiv and other cities, but will not target civilians, Zelensky said.
"We saw documents and we know that they allow them to attack infrastructure, logistics, and especially to attack in the cities, in the villages, everywhere, roads, schools, hospitals," Zelensky told Reuters in an interview.
"To pressure people to leave the capital, leave different cities: this is the goal of the operation."
The Kremlin was not available to comment on Saturday. But in a statement urging foreign nationals to leave Kyiv, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow would continue to systematically hit targets in what it said were retaliatory strikes for Ukrainian attacks on Russia in recent months.
EU warns situation in Russia-occupied Oleshky is 'appalling'
The situation of civilians in the Russia-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky is “appalling”, the European Union has warned.
"What is happening in Oleshky, Ukraine, is appalling. Civilians are trapped under siege by Russian forces without access to food, medicine, clean water and basic care,” EU commissioner Hadja Lahbib said yesterday.
“This is unacceptable...Russia, as occupying power, has clear obligations under international humanitarian law: civilians must be protected, and humanitarian assistance must be facilitated," she said.
Ukraine seeks missiles and ammunitions for its jets
Poland, Belgium and Spain have agreed to supply 20mm rounds for cannons on Ukraine's F-16 jet fighters, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said.
Ukraine is anticipating a potential agreement on the supply of "several million" rounds of this ammunition in the near future, Sybiha said, adding that Kyiv also needed at least 300 Patriot interceptor missiles to bring down Russia's ballistic missiles.
The foreign minister said Moscow could be making 120 to 140 ballistic missiles each month, with 600 already in its stocks.
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.
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.