A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Russia has a new tactic in its war against Ukraine - hitting the bridges that connect the two sides of the capital, Kyiv. It's part of Russia's escalating attacks. NPR Ukraine correspondent Joanna Kakissis joins us now from Kyiv. Joanna, so what's life like in Kyiv right now?
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: Well, A, it is very stressful. We are hearing air-raid sirens and explosions roughly every four hours, day and night. And the strikes didn't even stop for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who visited Kyiv on Sunday. And so to give you a little slice of what life is like here, I was at a friend's barbecue over the weekend, and air-raid sirens sounded just as I walked outside to wait for my taxi home. And not even a minute later, I heard this.
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KAKISSIS: And that was a Russian drone strike not too far away. I recorded that on my phone. These jet-powered drones move very fast. It's hard for Ukraine's air defenses to shoot them down. Now, these drones have already hit so many places in Kyiv - warehouses with food and medicine, data centers, manufacturing plants, even the National Academy of Science. But like you said, now Russia is aiming for a new target, and that's the bridges of Kyiv.
MARTÍNEZ: So that - bridges. Why bridges?
KAKISSIS: So the Ukrainians I've spoken to believe Russia is trying to create chaos in the capital to make it harder to live here. Kyiv is divided by this great big river called the Dnipro, and at least six major bridges across it are essential to transportation. They're full of cars, trucks, buses, trolleys. The city's metro uses the bridges. And Russia has repeatedly struck two of them so far.
MARTÍNEZ: So what's the fallout been?
KAKISSIS: Well, so far, Ukrainian crews have managed to repair the damage, but traffic is often backed up. We spoke to a trolleybus driver, Viktor Krumm (ph), near one of the bridges that was hit on Sunday. Now, traffic was closed at the time, so he had pulled over. He'd pulled the bus over. And he says, despite the threat of more strikes, he is not afraid to cross the bridge.
VIKTOR KRUMM: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: So what he's saying is people have gotten used to Russian attacks here, but life goes on. "We cannot hide from it," he says. However, A, if the Russians keep hitting Kyiv's bridges and the Ukrainians are forced to close them for longer periods, even for security reasons, there are a few alternative routes for transportation across the river.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, you mentioned German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was in Ukraine yesterday. How have Ukraine's allies reacted to these recent attacks?
KAKISSIS: Well, A, you know, the Europeans always strongly condemn these strikes. The - and that doesn't necessarily stop Russia from attacking.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
KAKISSIS: It actually has never stopped Russia from attacking. Now, Merz said Germany will not be intimidated by Russia and promised Ukraine more than $1 billion in military aid. And included in this aid are interceptors for air defense. Now, German defense company executives who traveled with Merz also signed agreements worth billions of dollars. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to seek more air-defense support for his country ahead of what's expected to be a very difficult winter. He is suggesting that Russia's - these new jet-powered drones that Russia's using may soon be used in other parts of the world.
MARTÍNEZ: Other parts of the world? What does he mean by that?
KAKISSIS: Yeah. Well, on Sunday, Zelenskyy told reporters he believes Russia is sharing this technology with North Korea. And warnings like these are not something new from Zelenskyy. He has been trying to alert Ukraine's allies around the world that a dangerous high-tech arms race is developing because of Russia's war on Ukraine. In other words, Russia is not only a threat to Ukraine.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Joanna Kakissis in Kyiv. Joanna, thank you.
KAKISSIS: You're welcome, A.
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