Plans are afoot to build new water crossings in the Mykolaiv region: the government recommends allocating funds from the budget

The embankment overlooking the Southern Bug River in Mykolaiv, April 2026. Photo: Serhii Ovcharyshyn, NikVesti

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a two-year pilot project for the construction of combined water crossings and access roads to them. The works will be carried out without the need for planning permission, and the government has recommended that Mykolaiv region and a number of other regions set aside funds in their local budgets for priority construction in 2026.

This is set out in Resolution №1295 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 15 October 2026, NikVesti reports.

The pilot project will last no more than two years from the date the relevant resolution comes into force.

Kyiv, as well as nine regions – Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Odesa, Mykolaiv region, Poltava, Sumy and Cherkasy – will be involved in the project’s implementation.

The document also provides for the simplification of construction procedures: water crossings and access roads to them may be built without the need for planning permission. Once the works are completed, such facilities will not require commissioning.

Furthermore, for the duration of martial law and for six months following its lifting, Ukrzaliznytsia will be able to sell crushed stone for the construction of water crossings without having to go through competitive tendering procedures.

Russia has begun targeting bridges in Kyiv

The Russians have started targeting bridges. The Russian Federation first struck the South Bridge on the afternoon of 1 October — on that occasion, the occupiers attacked the bridge’s support structure. In the evening, the Russians struck the bridge again — this time damaging the road surface, a bridge pier, a crash barrier and the metro barriers.

At around 5 am on 2 October, the Russians attacked the South Bridge again. As a result, the South Bridge, the Paton Bridge and the Metro Bridge were closed to public transport in the capital.

The bridge was also hit on the evening of 2 October.

On the morning of 3 October, the Russians also struck the Northern Bridge in Kyiv with a drone — the road surface and the trolleybus overhead line were damaged. Two people were injured as a result of the strike. One of the injured was treated at the scene, whilst the other was hospitalised.