KYIV: Russian attacks on key infrastructure were “tearing Kyiv apart”, the Ukrainian capital’s mayor said on Friday, as strikes on a bridge linking the capital’s east and west brought traffic to a standstill.

President Volodymyr Zelensky accused his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, of ripping up the rulebook of armed conflict by sanctioning massive attacks on civilian areas, an accusation the Kremlin has rejected.

The grinding conflict has largely focused on ground fighting in the east, with Kyiv mostly spared from the devastation wrought near the frontline.

But Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said the city should now be on a war footing.

“The capital is in a very dramatic situation,” he posted on Telegram. “It’s no longer possible to pretend that we can live now as we lived in peacetime.

“The enemy is tearing Kyiv apart.”

His message came as the authorities shut one of Kyiv’s main bridges and restricted movement on a second after another wave of deadly strikes by fast-moving, jet-powered drones.

Long lines of stationary cars and buses were gridlocked on main roads as commuters sought alternative routes or even made their way on foot.

“I’ve been travelling for three hours to get to work,” said Tetiana Osypenko, a 49-year-old seamstress whose bus was stuck in a traffic jam.

“There’s just no way to get there. Nothing. It’s impossible to cross the bridges today,” she said.

Traffic built up due to the complete closure to all vehicles going in both directions on the Southern Bridge, one of eight bridges connecting the east and west of Kyiv over the Dnipro river.

The cable-stayed bridge has been hit several times since Thursday, with new strikes confirmed by Klitschko on Friday in the afternoon.

The Paton Bridge, further north, was open in one direction only, though there were no reports that it had been struck.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2026