Russia Resumes Strikes on Kyiv Killing Two After Three-Day Pause for US Talks
Russia resumed missile and drone strikes on Kyiv overnight, killing at least two people and injuring others, ending a three-day halt in attacks on the Ukrainian capital that had been ordered to coincide with visits by Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. [1] [2]
Resumption of Strikes on Kyiv
Russian missiles and drones pounded Kyiv overnight, killing two people and sending smoke billowing above the Ukrainian capital. [1] At least two people have been killed after Russia resumed airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv early on Tuesday, officials said. [2] A series of explosions across Ukraine's capital overnight killed two people and injured ten others, the city's state emergency service said on Telegram. [2] Ukrainian officials reported two deaths and between seven and ten injuries from the overnight attack. [3] Residential buildings were hit, according to authorities, including a five-storey apartment block in the Solomianskyi district, while vehicles caught fire in the Podilskyi district. [2] The strikes hit residential buildings in Kyiv districts including Solomianskyi, with explosions reported and vehicles catching fire in Podilskyi. [3] Air raid alerts warned civilians to seek shelter as Russian forces launched drone strikes on Kyiv early on Tuesday, authorities said. [2] People sought shelter inside a metro station in Kyiv during the overnight missile attack, something that is routine for residents protecting themselves during the ongoing war. [2] A series of “powerful” explosions were heard in Kyiv, reported journalists AFP on Tuesday morning, while Russia resumed attacks on the Ukrainian capital after a three-day pause. [3] The explosions set off car alarms in the city centre, journalists noted, after the military administration of the city of Kyiv declared an air raid alert. [3] “Russians attacked the districts of Borispil and Fastiv with drones,” posted the Ukrainian Emergency Service on Telegram. [3] The services of emergency reported that buildings were hit in the districts of Boryspil and Fastiv, in the suburbs. [4]
End of the Three-Day Halt
The three-day pause in strikes on Kyiv was ordered by Vladimir Putin and expired as confirmed by Russian state agency TASS. [3] The attack came after both countries agreed to halt strikes on each other's capitals for three days while US Donald Trump's top envoys visited Moscow and Kyiv. [2] Russia resumed attacks on Kyiv after the expiration of a three-day pause in attacks, granted on the occasion of the visit of American envoys to the Ukrainian capital, declared on Monday evening the Ukrainian Emergency Service. [3] President Vladimir Putin ordered a three-day pause in Moscow's attacks on Kyiv, while envoys of American President Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, visited the capitals of Russia and Ukraine over the weekend. [3] The Russian state news agency Tass also confirmed that "the three-day moratorium on attacks against Kyiv, instituted on the occasion of the visit of American negotiators to Ukraine, has come to an end". [4] Ukraine had also suspended attacks against the Moscow region. [4] The pause coincided with Witkoff and Kushner's first visit to Ukraine since the 2022 invasion. [2]
Smoke rises above residential buildings in Kyiv after Russian missile and drone strikes. — Source: bbc
Trump Envoys' Visits and Talks
The talks with Trump's top envoys on Sunday in Ukraine, which lasted several hours behind closed doors, finished without any major breakthroughs. [2] Zelensky stated he expects the war to continue into winter. [2] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday he expected the war to continue into the winter, following talks with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner - their first visit to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion. [2] Steve Witkoff, who carried out visits to the two capitals this weekend, in the first trip to Ukraine since the start of the war, considered on Monday that this round of visits allowed "substantial progress" with a view to organising tripartite negotiations to end the conflict triggered by Russia in February 2022. [4] Zelensky told reporters they had agreed that officials from Ukraine, Europe and America would meet in the near future to continue discussions. [2] He also called for a trilateral meeting with Russia and the US. [2] Witkoff stressed the progress recorded in discussions with Ukraine and Russia, raising the prospect of resuming trilateral peace negotiations to end the conflict. [3] The pause coincided with visits to Moscow and Kyiv by envoys of American President Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who held talks aimed at ending the war. [3]
Simultaneous Attacks on Ukrainian Trains
Separately on the same morning, Russian forces struck three passenger trains in Ukraine, including one in Sumy Oblast that injured passengers with shrapnel. [5] Russian forces have attacked a diesel commuter train in Sumy Oblast, injuring passengers. [5] This was the third Russian strike on trains on the morning of 8 September. [5] “Another strike has hit a diesel commuter train in Sumy Oblast. Once again, a precautionary safety stop was made in good time after a threat was detected, and passengers were evacuated. However, early reports indicate that not everyone was at a safe enough distance, and some passengers have suffered shrapnel wounds,” said Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, Chairman of the Board of Ukrzaliznytsia. [5] The train crew provided first aid to those injured at the scene, and medics arrived later. [5] On the morning of 8 September, Russian forces attacked a Kyiv-Sumy passenger train in Sumy Oblast, causing a fire and forcing the evacuation of 90 people; however, there were no casualties. [5] Later, it became known that Russian forces had also attacked a Dnipro-Zaporizhzhia train. [5] One of the conductors is unaccounted for. [5] Pertsovskyi added that railway rolling stock and infrastructure are among the main targets of the Russians in frontline hromadas. [5]
Broader Air Raid Context
According to a BBC Verify analysis, Kyiv is suffering more daily air raid alerts than at any time since Russia's invasion in 2022. [2] In Russia, buildings were struck in the city of Saratov during a Ukrainian drone attack, its regional governor Roman Busargin said on Telegram early Tuesday. [2] An attack with a drone from Ukraine hit civilian infrastructure in the Russian city of Saratov, located on the banks of the Volga River, and injured several people, declared on Tuesday the regional governor Roman Busargin on the Telegram messaging application. [3] The Saratov region hosts a large oil refinery managed by the state oil company Rosneft, as well as a series of other industrial and military installations. [3] Drones hit civilian infrastructure in the Russian city of Saratov, affirms the governor. [3]
What to watch next: Zelensky called for a trilateral meeting with Russia and the US, and officials from Ukraine, Europe and America are set to meet in the near future to continue discussions following the envoys' visits.
