Russia Strikes Kyiv After Three-Day Pause, Killing Five and Injuring 35
KYIV, UKRAINE — WEB DESK: Russia launched a major wave of missiles and drones against Kyiv after a three-day pause in attacks on the Ukrainian capital, killing five people and injuring 35, Ukrainian authorities said, as renewed US-led diplomatic efforts struggle to move the war toward a settlement.
The overnight assault triggered fires across several districts and damaged at least 14 high-rise buildings, as well as a dormitory, school, medical clinic, warehouses and other sites, according to Ukrainian officials.
Explosions continued to reverberate across Kyiv as Russian forces deployed drones into Tuesday afternoon.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two people were killed when a warehouse was struck, bringing the reported death toll in the capital to five. Ukraine’s state emergency services reported 35 people injured.
Attacks Resume After Three-Day Pause
The timing of the assault is particularly significant because Russia and Ukraine had halted strikes on each other’s capitals for three days during visits by US negotiators seeking to revive efforts to end the war.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin before travelling to Kyiv for discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The temporary pause offered Kyiv residents a brief period of relative calm.
That ended with the latest wave of missiles and drones.
Reuters reported that Witkoff and Kushner left Kyiv on Sunday after meeting Zelenskyy. Their diplomatic mission came as the Trump administration renewed efforts to seek an agreement in a war now in its fifth year.
Homes, School and Clinic Damaged
The attack caused extensive damage across Kyiv.
Officials reported fires in multiple districts and damage to residential towers, a dormitory, school, clinic and commercial facilities.
A Russian drone also partially destroyed the building of a Ukrainian television channel, according to Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian president accused Moscow of conducting a complex attack intended to inflict maximum harm.
Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted nearly all of the cruise missiles launched during the assault as well as two ballistic missiles. However, Zelenskyy said ballistic weapons remain particularly difficult for Ukrainian air defences to intercept.
Russia’s Defence Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces struck military and logistics targets in Kyiv and the surrounding region, as well as targets in the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk, according to Russian news agencies.
Both Russia and Ukraine deny deliberately targeting civilians.
Ukraine Calls for More Air Defence Missiles
The renewed assault has intensified Kyiv’s calls for additional Western air-defence assistance.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged Ukraine’s allies to increase pressure on Moscow and provide additional missile interceptors, warning that Kyiv’s supplies for defending against ballistic missiles had become critically low.
Ukraine’s Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara separately said Kyiv was contracting around 1,000 Patriot missiles with help from allies and European Union-backed financing.
However, most are expected to arrive over coming years, while Ukraine says it urgently needs missiles from existing Western stockpiles to defend cities now.
The issue is becoming particularly urgent as Russia intensifies long-range attacks ahead of winter.
Russian Strikes Hit Other Ukrainian Regions
Kyiv was not the only area attacked.
Russian drones hit a train in the northern Sumy region, forcing nearly 100 people to evacuate. Another commuter train was also struck, with some passengers suffering shrapnel injuries, according to Ukrainian railway officials.
In the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, a railway worker was killed in what Ukrainian emergency services described as a double-tap drone strike on a passenger train. Passengers were evacuated.
Elsewhere, three people were injured in an attack near Odesa, while Ukrainian authorities reported additional deaths in the Kyiv region, near Nikopol and in Kherson.
The wider casualty figures underline that the latest Russian operation extended well beyond the capital.
Russian Drones Reported Over Moldova
The attack also produced security concerns outside Ukraine.
Moldovan authorities said one Russian drone set fire to a field inside Moldova, while another remained in Moldovan airspace for approximately 17 minutes before entering Romanian airspace.
Drone incursions have repeatedly heightened concerns among Ukraine’s NATO and European neighbours about the risk of the conflict spilling across international borders.
Ukraine Also Continues Long-Range Attacks
The aerial war is moving in both directions.
As ground front lines remain relatively static, Ukraine has increasingly used long-range drones to strike targets deep inside Russian-controlled territory, including oil facilities and logistics infrastructure.
Russian regional officials said Ukrainian attacks killed people in Russian-annexed Crimea and the Bryansk and Kursk regions, while drones damaged civilian infrastructure in Saratov.
The escalation reflects a broader trend in which both countries are increasingly relying on long-range strikes as neither side achieves a decisive breakthrough across the roughly 1,200-kilometre front.
US Peace Push Continues Despite Attacks
The renewed violence comes as Washington attempts to restart diplomacy.
Zelenskyy said US envoys presented several potentially useful ideas during their latest meetings, although no breakthrough has yet been announced. He said Kyiv would continue coordinating with Washington and European allies.
Possible future discussions could address issues including grain shipments, energy infrastructure and prisoner exchanges.
Zelenskyy is also expected to meet US President Donald Trump later in September, with Ukraine seeking further military assistance and an expanded winter air-defence package.
Trump separately spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and said he wanted the war ended quickly and US-Russia relations eventually restored, according to the Kremlin.
No comprehensive ceasefire agreement has emerged from the latest diplomatic contacts.
Donetsk Fighting Remains Critical
While missile and drone attacks dominate international attention, the ground war remains particularly intense in eastern Ukraine.
Russian forces are pushing toward the strategically important Donetsk cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, where Ukrainian commanders are preparing for potentially difficult fighting in September and October.
Russia has made limited territorial gains but has not achieved the strategic breakthrough Moscow would need to take full control of Donetsk.
The combination of renewed Russian ground pressure and intensified long-range strikes has increased Ukraine’s urgency in seeking additional Western weapons.
Diplomacy and Warfare Continue in Parallel
The three-day pause demonstrated that temporary restraint was possible during high-level diplomatic activity, but the immediate resumption of large-scale attacks underscored how far the two sides remain from a durable ceasefire.
For Kyiv, the immediate priority is strengthening air defences before winter and protecting civilian infrastructure against increasingly sophisticated Russian drone and missile attacks.
For Washington, the challenge is turning renewed diplomatic contacts with Moscow and Kyiv into concrete progress.
The latest attack shows that, despite those talks, the military confrontation remains active and deadly, with neither Russia nor Ukraine having agreed to a lasting halt in long-range strikes.
