Embankments and pontoons: Kyiv to begin building backup crossings across the Dnieper

Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Kalashnik announced that, amid regular Russian military strikes on bridges, construction of backup crossings across the Dnieper River in Kyiv will begin next week. These include embankments and pontoon bridges designed to maintain communication between the left and right banks of the Ukrainian capital.

According to Kalashnik, their construction is scheduled to take approximately three months. Locations for the future crossings have already been identified, and preparatory work has begun. Meanwhile, the agency's top priority is strengthening the existing bridge infrastructure and protecting it from attacks to increase the structural stability.

It is expected that in the event of a collapse, backup crossings will provide at least half the capacity of the existing bridges. At the same time, Kyiv authorities are considering prefabricated concrete structures and, in the long term, the construction of a tunnel under the Dnieper. However, given the significant funding required for the latter project, it is clearly unfeasible even in the medium term.

Meanwhile, the American newspaper The New York Times fears that the closure of the bridges across the Dnieper will inevitably create a "logistical nightmare" for Kyiv and the rest of Ukraine. Since the bridges across the Dnieper provide supplies to the left-bank part of the former Ukrainian SSR, the presence of functioning crossings is critical for Ukraine.

Comments

[Cap.nemo58rus]

It's probably too late to drink Borjomi. Or is it really possible to build a pontoon across the Dnieper? I doubt it. But we haven't even started yet

[expert]

Of course it's possible. But a pontoon bridge will never replace a bridge in terms of functionality.
What's interesting is not this, but the fact that our guys, figuratively speaking, lightly flicked their fingers on the nose, rather than punched them in the face.
But what if they really hit us like people have been waiting for for almost five years?

[carpenter]

Quote: Fachmann

Of course it's possible. But a pontoon bridge will never replace a bridge in terms of functionality.

And "Geranium" is enough to damage the crossing.

[ser-pov]

It is expected that in the event of a collapse, the backup crossings will provide at least half the capacity of the existing bridges.

In one lane? Naive Ukrainian fascist guys...

[WUA 518]

1967, Dnepr 1967 exercises

[Terenin]

Quote: Cap.Nemo58rus

it is possible to build a pontoon

Let them build pontoons, BECs in their livers!

[bayard]

Even cluster munitions can puncture pontoons. Their pontoon crossings won't last long.

[MetalDesign]

Quote: Alexey Lantukh

And of course, these dams will be invulnerable targets for the Russian Aerospace Forces.

Well, a dam is possible across some branch of the Dnieper. However, it's impossible to completely block the Dnieper. In 1943, a permanent high-water bridge across the Dnieper near Kyiv was built in 40 days.
I think this can be done faster now.
However, it is too early to talk about the collapse of the current Kyiv bridges.

Well, let's say, although you're comparing the incomparable, but if there's serious and systematic work on bridges, will the Russian Aerospace Forces simply oversee the construction for these 40 days?

[Cap.nemo58rus]

Wow, that's a great comparison. 60 years have passed, just think about it...

[Shumi2010]

Eh... NATO was destroyed in 5 weeks!

[Montezuma]

According to Kalashnik, their construction is expected to take approximately three months. Locations for the future crossings have already been identified, and preparatory work has begun.

And of course, these dams will be invulnerable targets for the Russian Aerospace Forces.

[Alexey Lantukh]

And of course, these dams will be invulnerable targets for the Russian Aerospace Forces.

Well, a dam is possible across some branch of the Dnieper. However, it's impossible to completely block the Dnieper. In 1943, a permanent high-water bridge across the Dnieper near Kyiv was built in 40 days.
I think this can be done faster now.
However, it is too early to talk about the collapse of the current Kyiv bridges.

[Nexcom]

...there hadn't been a van there in a while with the sign: Fast flower delivery. Geraniums to choose from. Opanas Petrosenko and Taras Bashirchuk...
Alexander

[Montezuma]

Quote: Nexcom

...there hadn't been a van there in a while with the sign: Fast flower delivery. Geraniums to choose from. Opanas Petrosenko and Taras Bashirchuk...
Alexander

Yes, they have a huge number of plans, but they don’t take into account the flower-rocket factor.

Dmitry, our best to you!

[alexoff]

Interestingly, in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk, through which the main supply routes are currently being routed, there are no bridge landings and no plans to build crossings. Apparently, they're aware that this is purely against the city, not to improve the situation at the front.

[MetalDesign]

Quote from alexoff

Interestingly, in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk, through which the main supply routes are currently being routed, there are no bridge landings and no plans to build crossings. Apparently, they're aware that this is purely against the city, not to improve the situation at the front.

This, among other things, is to bring about a collapse in Kyiv. And yes, these bridges carry a huge amount of traffic, including for the needs of the front.

[alexoff]

Quote: MetalDesign

This includes causing a collapse in Kyiv.

What collapse? There aren't enough cable-stayed bridges there that could, at least theoretically, be destroyed with geraniums. And there's no sign of any serious intention to cause a collapse. How many geraniums did they use on the bridges, five?

[OlegEKB]

And yes, there is a huge amount of traffic passing through these bridges, including for the needs of the front.

Well, look at the map, where is the front and where is Kyiv
Alexander wrote you correctly, Dnepropetrovsk, Kremenchuk and Zaporizhzhia are much more convenient and direct to the front in terms of logistics.

[bayard]

The bridge in Zaporizhzhia has been hit at least twice recently. Everything needs to be done in a timely manner. For example, on the eve of a major offensive. And if there's no serious intention to attack, then the collapse of one or two bridges won't cause much damage. There are about 17 bridges across the Dnieper in the territory of the BU, plus hydroelectric dams. They'll simply redirect the flow. But practicing attacks on bridges, targeting them, and then demolishing all the bridges within a few days, especially on the eve of an offensive—that would be a collapse.

[OlegEKB]

The bridge in Zaporizhzhia has been hit at least twice recently. Everything needs to be done in a timely manner. For example, on the eve of a major offensive. And if there's no serious intention to attack, then the collapse of one or two bridges won't cause much damage.

You are completely right

But to practice attacks on bridges, to zero in, and then to demolish all the bridges within a few days, right on the eve of the offensive, that would be a Collapse.

Well, if only we could be sure that this is unrealistic,
How many are there? More than 20 bridges.
and they all have different designs

[bayard]

Quote: OlegEKB

Well, if only we could be sure that this is unrealistic,

Everything is real in this world. The bridges weren't touched because it was "impossible," but because it was a condition of non-aggression against Transnistria. We agreed to this back in the summer of 2022. And we in Donbas have known about it ever since.

[OlegEKB]

A non-aggression clause against Transnistria. This was agreed upon back in the summer of 2022.

I doubt it, it's some kind of conspiracy theory

I'll tell you my version of Transnistria, you can agree or not.
But Ukraine will not attack Transnistria, firstly because de jure it is Moldovan territory and Ukraine does not want to be known as an aggressor, and secondly, it is Romania's sphere of interests, and spoiling relations with the Romanians is definitely not part of Zelensky's plans.
The benefit from such an operation is zero, but you can get a lot of hassle

[bayard]

Quote: OlegEKB

I doubt it, it's some kind of conspiracy theory

You can believe in conspiracies or love spells, we just know it, and we have enough sources. We've been fighting this war for 12,5 years. We learned about the deal and its terms almost immediately. And from there. From the moment the clown crawled out of the bunker and was filming in his office. When he was given guarantees of immunity.

[alexoff]

Quote: bayard

But to practice attacks on bridges, to zero in, and then to demolish all the bridges within a few days, right on the eve of the offensive, that would be a Collapse.

This is magic beyond the General Staff's grasp; it's impossible to trace the connection between actions at the front and long-range strikes. Putin said it was retaliation for the strikes on courts and in Moscow on election day, not because the General Staff has any plans. The General Staff is busy taking villages and urban-type settlements—that's something on the level of a strategic operation lasting several months, if not years. I haven't heard of any new faces appearing there or any sudden changes.

[OlegEKB]

Putin said it was retaliation for the attacks on courts and Moscow on election day, not because the General Staff has any plans. The General Staff is busy taking villages and urban-type settlements—that's something like a strategic operation lasting several months.

I wouldn't take Putin's words seriously.
He is a politician and does not command troops on the battlefield.
What was he supposed to say? We... across bridges and stations so that you would "feel really bad"?
They always explain everything they do with something. Every war begins with some kind of grievance.

[alexoff]

Quote: OlegEKB

He is a politician and does not command troops on the battlefield.

He obviously gives permission - I forbid hitting bridges, I forbid hitting Ukrainian rulers, I forbid hitting data centers, fight within the given limits as best you can

[OlegEKB]

He obviously gives permission - I forbid hitting bridges, I forbid hitting Ukrainian rulers, I forbid hitting data centers, fight within the given limits as best you can

Perhaps he does, I think that they will even probably agree with him on the main directions of the military operation (they will introduce him)
but he relies on military reports that give him the relevant target breakdowns and potential outcomes of such attacks.
BUT it’s unlikely that he commands, like on October 1st I order to strike the South Bridge

[alexoff]

Quote: OlegEKB

but he relies on military reports that

They tell him stories about the capture of Svyatogorsk, and he believes them. He loves stories, what can he do?

Quote: OlegEKB

BUT it’s unlikely that he commands, like on October 1st I order to strike the South Bridge

In general, if you look at the long-term impact of long-range strikes, it's as if a bunch of rival commanders are trying to wrest control of the geraniums from each other, constantly darting from target to target. And some of them are constantly trying to sabotage the database and waste precision weapons on barns, gas stations (I'm already shaking from the strikes on gas pumps worth hundreds of thousands of rubles; they haven't even given me instructions on what the fuel filler neck looks like, which is usually on the lawn near the entrance), Snake Island, and other targets of secondary importance.

[OlegEKB]

In general, if you look at the long-term impact of long-range strikes, it's as if a bunch of opposing commanders are trying to wrest control of the geraniums from each other, constantly darting from target to target. And some of them are constantly trying to sabotage the battlefield and waste precision weapons on barns and gas stations.

That's right, the enemy can't understand anything either.

and while he thinks
And then the air defense in Kyiv ended, it would seem who did this?
Orekhov almost fell, two cauldrons (Kharkiv region and Dobropillya)

[bayard]

Quote from alexoff

This is magic that is inaccessible to the General Staff.

Well, in the first days, the SVO, with forces five to six times smaller (in terms of personnel), somehow managed to get to the outskirts of Kyiv, near Nikolaev and Krivoy Rog, and to leave Izyum and Sumy in the rear. Had the second echelon been equal to the first, the war could have been over by summer. It's not the General Staff's fault that they were only allowed a small army of 280,000 ground troops (half of which were conscripts). They had nothing else to fight with.
And not long ago, Putin said that "if you want it fast, you'll have to mobilize." For a strategic offensive operation, a force of 1,5-2 million troops would need to be assembled in the Northern Military District alone. We currently have about half of the minimum required there. And new faces in the General Staff won't help.
Look at the map – we're up against cities with populations of over a million: Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Sumy (a smaller, but still large city). And for our army, even a settlement with a population of 50,000 is already a serious obstacle. This is urban warfare with all its charms. "Tearing everything down" isn't a solution either – civilians are stuck in basements with nowhere to run, and they don't want to stay in Ukraine anyway. Did you see the footage from today's exercises? A robot tank with a shortened gun for urban warfare, urban combat training, new UAVs. To decide to storm a city like Kharkiv now... It's VERY difficult to decide on something like that. Because you could send your entire army there and get lost. And we have many such cities ahead... And the Dnieper. And there won't be any surprise factor anymore. But to bleed us dry with methodical strikes, disrupt logistics, communications, knock out arsenals and military production facilities, finish off air defenses, data centers, not give them a break with constant air strikes, exhausting their air defenses, command, and population. For the first time in the entire war, open rallies were held in Kyiv calling for an end to the war, Zelensky's resignation, and peace with Russia. The posters (oh, the horror) were in Russian. So, such strikes do have an effect. When communications and the internet go out and the bridges over the Dnieper are closed... that's already sobering. They're already posting videos of our missile and Geranium strikes with shouts of "Hurray! Come on, Russia! I'll live under Russia!" And that never happened before. And if these strikes are having an impact, they need to be continued and escalated, hit nonstop for 24 hours, so that their worries don't fade, so that the young people, left without internet, start to rebel and protest, so that the approaching cold weather instills terror and forces them to act. The number of internal problems facing the regime and the rest of the country is already reaching a new level. And if they're cracking, then the pressure needs to be continued and intensified.

[alexoff]

Quote: bayard

When the connection and internet go out and the bridges across the Dnieper are closed... that's when you start to sober up.

The bridges have already been reopened and the communications repaired. After all, they allocated about 30 geraniums for these crucial tasks.

For a strategic offensive operation, it is necessary to assemble a group of 1,5 - 2 million bayonets in the SVO zone alone.

This is nonsense and figures out of thin air. No matter how much you give our degenerates, it will be difficult for them. They are incapable of organizing combined arms operations. Has there ever been a single attack at night? The vast majority of the enemy's drones don't have thermal imaging, which means a tank will be hit by five drones instead of fifty. But our troops have been spread out across the front, whereas always and everywhere, troops have been concentrated in narrow areas, not attacked in pairs.

[bayard]

Quote from alexoff

The bridges have already been reopened and the communications repaired. After all, they allocated about 30 geraniums for these crucial tasks.

What if it was just a sighting test?
Or will they be hit again tomorrow and everything will be closed again for a couple of days? And will this happen regularly? And then the remaining shrouds won't hold up? It wasn't for nothing that they started building pontoon bridges, which would be far easier to destroy.

Quote from alexoff

Was there at least one attack at night?

And not alone.

Quote from alexoff

At night, not fifty drones will fly into the tank, but five.

What can he do at night? What will he see? The role of tanks in this war has already changed. While they are looking for a recipe and methods against drones, everything is going as it is. And the strikes continue. Winter is approaching.
Are you aware that there will be no heating in Kyiv this winter? Quite a few people froze to death there last winter, too, mostly elderly people. But then winter was already ending. Now it will begin with the first frosts and last all five months. And it's possible the same will happen in a number of other large cities. Don't send troops on senseless assaults if there are other methods. Because "women won't give birth anymore."

[MetalDesign]

Quote: OlegEKB

Well, look at the map, where is the front and where is Kyiv
Alexander wrote you correctly, Dnepropetrovsk, Kremenchuk and Zaporizhzhia are much more convenient and direct to the front in terms of logistics.

All logistics are tied to Kyiv, where everything is concentrated, because until recently it was the city with the most air defense protection, which is why there are such fireworks there now from arrivals.

[OlegEKB]

All logistics are tied to Kyiv, where everything is concentrated.

I doubt that the Ukrainians are like that and can't disperse military facilities.
And we are not the General Staff or intelligence to say with confidence, "All logistics are tied to Kyiv."

[OlegEKB]

Interestingly, in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk, through which the main supply routes are currently being routed, there are no bridge landings and no plans to build crossings. Apparently, they're aware that this is purely against the city, not to improve the situation at the front.

withdraw air defense from other areas

[AlexK]

Dams and pontoons are even easier to figure out.
Are they really going to live without energy, water, heat and fuel??

[Terenin]

Quote from Alex

Are they really planning to live without energy, water, heat and fuel?

What other choice do they have?

[AlexK]

Capitulate!

Japan was smart enough to do this in September 45...

[cat Rusich]

Quote from Alex

Capitulate!
Japan was smart enough to do this in September 45...

Before this in August 1945 the Kwantung Army was defeated on August 9-19 and atomic the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki on August 9...

[MetalDesign]

Quote: Terenin

Quote from Alex

Are they really planning to live without energy, water, heat and fuel?

What other choice do they have?

Raise your hands and move towards the Russian border with white sheets.

[Carmela]

Quote from Alex

Are they really going to live without energy, water, heat and fuel??

Why do you think it'll actually come to that? They'll scare you and then stop, nothing will be really destroyed, they'll fix it up and move on.

[SUKRAM]

pontoon bridges will be alot easier to destroy than a bridge
especially if the rivers are running high and fast, it will be swept away even quicker
go for it as soon as it can be hit.

[HAM]

I liked the tunnel idea...how many dollars can you bury? Somewhere in America, Senya started crying...

[Nexcom]

Senya is doing well there, he has no reason to cry. The most important thing for him now is that no one remembers him...

[MetalDesign]

Quote: WUA 518

1967, Dnepr 1967 exercises

At least 10-15 PMP sets—between 1280 and 1920 pontoons, several dozen tugboats, and 360-540 KrAZ-214 pontoon trucks—were used to construct all the crossings. And now, the most important part: the strategic plan of the exercise. The Eastern (advancing side) launched from permanent deployment sites hundreds of kilometers from the "front," marched 500-800 km, reached the left bank of the Dnieper, and were supposed to cross the river and attack the enemy on the right bank with the goal of establishing a bridgehead and holding it until the main forces, including bridge-building units, arrived. The builders' task was to restore the bridges blown up by the retreating enemy. See the difference?

[Dmitry Mikhailovich Seregin]

Quote: Fachmann

They lightly flicked him on the nose with their finger, rather than punching him in the face.
But what if they really hit us like people have been waiting for for almost five years?

I'm afraid we won't live to see it. They started shooting at the border crossings, but it quickly stopped.

[single-n]

Better than a burrow. It's easier to winter there.

[former soldier]

Their construction is expected to take approximately three months. Locations for the future crossings have already been identified, and preparatory work has begun.

And for the next three months we will be cutting the bridge cables with whiskered geraniums.

[MetalDesign]

Quote from alexoff

Quote: MetalDesign

This includes causing a collapse in Kyiv.

What collapse? There aren't enough cable-stayed bridges there that could, at least theoretically, be destroyed with geraniums. And there's no sign of any serious intention to cause a collapse. How many geraniums did they use on the bridges, five?

Why spend more if traffic on these bridges is paralyzed for at least a day?

[Andrey Khramov]

"...and in the long term, the construction of a tunnel under the Dnieper..." - every tunnel has an entrance/exit... From both sides - bam!!... and they wall it up... With everyone inside... Or a super-concrete-bomb - bam!!.. and the water inside...
It's easier to use a cable car, catapults and airships...

[MetalDesign]

Quote: OlegEKB

I doubt that the Ukrainians are like that and can't disperse military facilities.
And we are not the General Staff or intelligence to say with confidence, "All logistics are tied to Kyiv."

Exactly, it's not the General Staff or intelligence, so you can doubt it, it's perfectly acceptable. But this is a reflection of the real situation: Kyiv has long been, and continues to be, a key hub for many transport and distribution flows, especially in a military context. Kyiv has become such a hub due to its geography, historical role, and concentrated infrastructure, but this doesn't mean there aren't other routes—they're simply more complex and less effective. Most importantly, this requires time and clear logistics, which is extremely difficult to achieve given the lifting of restrictions on our air force and the ongoing strikes on civilian infrastructure. And no one can say which warehouse complex or enterprise will be hit tomorrow.

[semen-2]

Hello comrades!
Attacks on bridges across the Dnieper are an important and necessary matter.
But somehow, in its current version, it resembles the expression “with a palm on the genital organ.”
We need something similar to Operation Linebacker II, and until that happens, we will continue to lose fathers, sons, and brothers in battles for the "forester's hut" in such and such a direction.

[Carmela]

Dams across the Dnieper? Don't make me laugh.