Southern Bridge in Kyiv completely closed: city changes traffic across the Dnieper

The Southern Bridge in Kyiv is completely closed to traffic after a series of Russian attacks. Green line metro trains are also not running on the open section across the Dnieper for now — service can be restored only after an expert assessment of the structure's condition.

This was announced by acting first deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration Petro Panteleev during a briefing following a meeting of the Kyiv Defense Council, reports Suspilne.

According to Panteleev, the city is awaiting conclusions from specialized scientific institutes regarding the technical condition of the Southern Bridge. Only after that will the authorities be able to decide on resuming metro train service.

"We are awaiting conclusions from specialized institutes to make a decision regarding metro operations. The metro is technically ready to operate," — Panteleev said.

Until expert conclusions are received, the Southern Bridge remains completely closed. Restrictions apply to both road transport and metro traffic on the open section of the green line.

At the same time, the city has changed the operation of other bridge crossings over the Dnieper. The Metro Bridge allows cars only in one lane from the left to the right bank. On the Paton Bridge during air raid alerts, traffic is restricted from the right to the left bank.

The Pivnichnyi and Podilsko-Voskresenskyi bridge crossings also operate with restrictions. Meanwhile, the Darnytskyi Bridge remains open without additional restrictions, including during air raid alerts.

Part of public transport has also been redirected to the Darnytskyi Bridge. As reported by the Kyiv City State Administration, buses No. 22 and No. 91, which previously used the Southern Bridge, are temporarily running via the Darnytskyi Bridge.

Buses No. 51, No. 55, No. 115, and No. 118-D were also directed through it after restrictions were introduced on the Paton Bridge. Bus No. 1-M was rerouted via the Podilskyi Bridge due to changes on the Metro Bridge.

The changes have led to additional load on available crossings and changes in usual public transport routes. The Kyiv City State Administration urged passengers to take restrictions into account when planning trips and follow operational traffic updates.

The Southern Bridge came under Russian strikes several times over the past day. On October 1, city authorities twice reported drone attacks on the structure, and on the morning of October 2, Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced a new hit.

After previous attacks, damage was recorded to individual elements of the structure, including a pier, road surface, barrier, and the protective concrete enclosure of the metro. That is why the authorities decided not to resume traffic until a professional inspection of the structure is completed.

Previously, Kyiv had a different procedure for bridge operations during air raid alerts, but after the attacks it was revised. Currently, the Darnytskyi Bridge effectively remains one of the main crossings between the banks that continues to operate without restrictions during alerts.