KYIV, Ukraine — Russian missiles and drones struck Kyiv overnight Tuesday, killing two people and forcing residents into shelters as Moscow ended a temporary pause in attacks on the Ukrainian capital.
The strikes came after U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, visited Moscow and Kyiv over the weekend in an effort to revive negotiations aimed at ending the war.
AFP reporters in Kyiv heard explosions early Tuesday as fires broke out across the city and smoke rose above the capital. Residents sought shelter in basements and metro stations.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga accused Russia of launching the attack after the U.S. envoys left Kyiv.
“The moment the US president’s peace envoys left, Putin launched another massive, horrific attack against Kyiv, damaging residential areas and killing at least two people,” Sybiga said on social media.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said residents became trapped inside a residential building following the strikes.
Russia’s military said it carried out a “massive strike” against military-industrial sites, logistics hubs and storage facilities in Kyiv and surrounding areas.
The attack followed Witkoff’s statement that the weekend discussions had made “substantive progress.” He said Trump remained focused on ending the fighting and securing a lasting peace.
Witkoff and Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday before traveling to Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Kremlin said Monday that it remained open to three-way peace talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States, although spokesman Dmitry Peskov said officials had not determined a venue or date.
Zelensky said the United States wanted to reduce tensions before winter. Russia has targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during previous winters, disrupting electricity and heating for millions of residents.
Zelensky said the weekend discussions included U.S. proposals involving energy facilities, grain shipments and oil and gas exports.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, meanwhile, rejected a Turkish proposal for a truce covering attacks in the Black Sea, calling the proposal “unrealistic” and “impossible to monitor.”
The two sides remain divided over the terms for ending the war. Moscow demands that Ukraine surrender territory in the eastern Donetsk region that Kyiv still controls and abandon Western military support.
Ukraine has rejected those conditions as unacceptable and warned that they could allow Russia to prepare for another attack.
In Russian-annexed Crimea, Russian-installed officials said a Ukrainian attack killed two people.
The United Nations has reported that civilian deaths in Ukraine have reached their highest level since the first months of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
