KYIV / MOSCOW – October 2, 2026 – Vladimir Putin ruled out a ceasefire on long-range strikes, warned that a direct attack on Kaliningrad would put nuclear weapons “immediately” on the table, and conceded that Ukrainian hits on Russian refineries have cost about 1 per cent of GDP — on a day Russian drones struck Kyiv’s Southern Bridge for the first time in the full-scale war.
At the Valdai forum on Thursday he dismissed a swap in which Ukraine would stop hitting refineries if Russia stopped hitting ships. “It is simply ridiculous,” he said. He said Moscow would rather end the war in talks and wants a neutral Ukraine afterward. He also said Russia has no plan to attack a European country, then described the weapons in Russia’s arsenal as a “competitive advantage” and told the West not to test Kaliningrad, the exclave between Poland and Lithuania. NATO said this week it had received a Russian note warning of nuclear use if the alliance tried to cut the exclave off.
In Kyiv the war was a bridge. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two drones hit near supports of the Southern Bridge around 12:20 p.m. Thursday while cars and a metro train were still crossing. A third struck the roadway that evening. Another hit was reported overnight into Friday. It is a main link between the east and west banks. A school in the capital was also struck Thursday. Children and staff were in shelters. No casualties there.
Overnight into Friday, Russia launched 108 drones, 47 of them jet-powered. Ukraine’s air force said 88 were shot down or suppressed. Hits were logged at 11 sites. In Darnytskyi district a 25-storey residential building was damaged. One person was killed and two wounded.
The New York Times reported that Ukraine has an intercepted Russian plan, described by Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal, for a winter campaign of up to 1,000 missiles, drones and bombs against substations, thermal and hydro plants, and boiler houses — including switchyards that tie the three operating nuclear plants to the grid, a way to force those plants offline without a direct strike on a reactor. Wednesday’s pre-dawn hits on a Kyiv thermal plant were the early version.
Putin wants talks and will not pause the strikes. The bridge is what that looks like from the Dnipro.
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