우크라이나eville advisor, ports and pontoon crossings cannot fully replace Kyiv bridges

왜 중요한가

Strikes on Kyiv’s Dnipro bridges have forced closures, changed public transport routes and contributed to transport disruption, making the resilience of the capital’s river crossings a security and mobility issue. Ferries and pontoon crossings can support emergency delivery of important cargo, but their capacity is limited and their access infrastructure is vulnerable. Alternative crossings and a proposed tunnel are being presented as longer-term responses, alongside stronger air defence and rocket and artillery defences to protect critical transport infrastructure.

무슨 일이 있었나

On 15 November, Serhii Beskrestnov, adviser to the president of Ukraine on technological defence development, said that ferry and pontoon crossings across the Dnipro cannot fully replace Kyiv’s bridges if Russia destroys all existing crossings. He said a ferry crossing on a Kyiv scale could only be an emergency measure for moving important cargo, as its capacity depends on piers and access roads that are vulnerable to Shahed drones and missiles. A pontoon crossing also requires access roads and interchanges; it could help deliver essential cargo in a critical situation, but a single Shahed could disrupt it.

Beskrestnov said Kyiv needs a tunnel under the Dnipro not only as a military object but also for civilian purposes, and estimated that construction with foreign support would take several years.

Ukraine’s Infrastructure and Restoration Minister Mykola Kalashnyk said the country plans 21 alternative bridge crossings, with construction work already under way in Kyiv. He said eight crossings would duplicate existing Kyiv bridges, with two due to open by the end of February, and that all eight could handle 30% to 40% of the traffic on the current bridges. He also said reserve pontoon crossings with embankment dams could be built in three months and provide half the capacity of the existing bridges. The cost of a Dnipro tunnel is in the tens of billions of hryvnias, so Kalashnyk said it could be implemented only with foreign investors’ money.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko announced 1 billion hryvnias for combined crossings.

우크라이나 매체의 시각

Ukrainian coverage focuses on the vulnerability of ferry and pontoon infrastructure, including exposed piers, access roads and interchanges, and on the ability of a single Shahed to disrupt a pontoon crossing. Alternative crossings, a Dnipro tunnel, municipal funding and stronger air and missile defences are presented as responses to the risk of bridge destruction. Officials also highlight the tunnel’s military and civilian functions, the need for foreign financing and the time required for construction.

배경

Russia began attacking Kyiv’s Dnipro bridges in October. A missile attack on the Northern Bridge damaged its road surface and a power line, after which traffic was closed in both directions and public transport routes were changed. A second lane opened on the Southern Bridge in the left-bank-to-right-bank direction, while the opposite direction remained limited to one lane. Ukraine planned 21 alternative bridge crossings, with construction work already under way in Kyiv. Kyiv announced 1 billion hryvnias for combined crossings, while a Dnipro tunnel was described as costing tens of billions of hryvnias and requiring foreign investors.