Kyiv Bridge Hit Again as Putin Hardens His Rhetoric

A Russian drone struck Kyiv's Southern Bridge for the third time in a single day, damaging the roadway and metro line and forcing authorities to halt underground and surface transport across the capital. The strike capped a day in which Moscow's rhetoric hardened. Vladimir Putin warned he would deploy Russia's "full arsenal" if the country faced a direct attack, naming Kaliningrad, while denying this was nuclear intimidation. He said he had been ready to resume peace talks since September 21, but only on Russian terms: recognition of Donbas's occupation, Ukrainian neutrality and security guarantees for Moscow. He also dismissed a mutual ceasefire on strikes against refineries and ships as pointless, and said occupied Ukrainian land would be absorbed into Russia and developed. Against that backdrop, NATO's chief said bluntly there is no peace in Europe today, and the EU's defense commissioner warned a Russian strike on an EU arms factory would justify invoking NATO's Article 5. Bulgaria's PM Rumen Radev denied favoring Moscow, saying he backs realism, not Russia. Kyiv marked Defenders Day looking inward: Zelenskyy promoted five officers to brigadier general, while General Deliatskyy took command of the entire Naval Infantry Force. Kyiv and Budapest also agreed in New York to discuss education-law changes for Hungary's minority.