Message from the sky: Russian drone hits Kyiv's North Bridge as Germany's Merz arrives

The German chancellor had barely arrived. Friedrich Merz stepped off his train in Kyiv on Sunday morning, in an unannounced visit meant to underline Germany's backing for Ukraine, to the sound of air-raid sirens. Minutes later, a Russian drone slammed into the road surface of the city's Northern Bridge over the Dnipro river, sending a fireball into the sky while cars were still crossing. Two people were injured, Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko said. 'Impact on the road surface of the Northern Bridge. Emergency services are heading to the scene,' he wrote on Telegram. It was the fourth consecutive day that Russia has targeted Kyiv's bridges. On Thursday and Friday the Southern Bridge — which carries ground transport and the city's subway — was hit five times in less than 24 hours. Earlier in the week, strikes had shut three of the city's six road bridges over the Dnipro. Ukrainian officials say the campaign is designed to cut the capital in two: government offices and businesses on the right bank, mostly residential districts on the left. Merz, accompanied by economy minister Katherina Reiche and German defence manufacturers, laid tributes with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Maidan memorial to fallen soldiers. 'Ukraine needs all our support in the coming weeks,' he said. 'If Russia is not stopped, sooner or later its war machine will turn against us.' Berlin sources said the visit was expected to seal a new military aid package worth more than $1 billion — combat drones, satellite technology to strike Russian launch sites, and joint production of anti-jet drones. Moscow claimed the bridge is used to move Ukrainian troops and military supplies, and said it also hit a logistics centre in the Kyiv region on Saturday. The strike came a day after Russia urged foreign nationals and diplomats to leave Kyiv, warning of fresh 'massive' airstrikes and saying 'responsibility for any potential negative consequences rests entirely with those who ignore this warning'. The EU delegation's answer was blunt: 'We are staying.' Kyiv was largely spared the devastation of the front lines for the first years of the war. Since April it has faced round-the-clock attacks — on residential areas, petrol stations, schools, government buildings, churches, rail and communications. The city's infrastructure minister said Kyiv now plans alternative crossings over the Dnipro in case the bridge attacks continue. A capital that thought the war was somewhere else is learning, bridge by bridge, that it is not.