On 22 January 2022, on Ukraine's Unity Day, President Volodymyr Zelensky ceremonially opened the first stage of the cable-stayed bridge across the Dnipro in Zaporizhzhia. The bridge connects the left bank of Zaporizhzhia with Khortytsia island.
It is the first cable-stayed bridge built since Ukraine's independence. With a 151-metre pylon height, it is the country's tallest bridge and ranks among the top 10 tallest in Europe.
Residents greeted the opening with a popular «living chain» on the bridge — a symbolic act of unity that resonated all the more in the months before the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.