Russian strikes on Kyiv bridges disrupt traffic for second day

Russia struck a bridge linking two sides of Kyiv for the second consecutive day on Friday, forcing full or partial traffic suspensions across three Dnipro River bridges and causing major traffic jams in the Ukrainian capital. The strikes are part of an intensified Russian air campaign on Kyiv infrastructure, linked to Vladimir Putin's September order to lift constraints on air attacks, according to a senior Ukrainian official. One person was killed and two injured in a drone strike on an apartment building, while two died in Kharkiv from a guided bomb. Kyiv is entering its most difficult period since the invasion's early days, with residents feeling winter hardship has arrived early. Separately, a US-Ukrainian reconstruction fund sealed its first critical minerals deal worth about $30 million, and a European commissioner condemned conditions in occupied Oleshky as "appalling."