Kyiv — Russia pounded Ukraine’s capital Kyiv with missiles and drones on Tuesday morning, killing two people, one day after US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited the region in an attempt to kickstart stalled peace talks. Explosions rang out in the city early Tuesday local time, according to a CNN reporter in Kyiv, in a signal the agreed three day-halt on attacks as Washington’s emissaries visited both country’s capitals was over. Two people were killed and 10 were wounded in the attack, which involved ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the assault was “complex” and designed by Russia to “cause as much harm to life as possible.” The attack caused “significant damage to residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure in the capital,” Zelensky said on X. People were rescued after being trapped in a five-story residential block damaged in the onslaught in Kyiv’s Solomyanskyi district, emergency services said. A warehouse and garages in other districts were also damaged and images from officials showed cars on fire. Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said an educational institution had been damaged. This photograph shows smoke rising following Russian missiles strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on September 8, 2026. Eugene Kotenko/AFP/Getty Images The attacks also struck a civilian market in Odesa region, an apartment building in Kharkiv region, Zelensky said. A drone strike damaged a passenger train on the route between Kyiv and the eastern city of Sumy, though its 90 passengers and crew were able to evacuate beforehand, Ukraine’s emergency services said. While attacks on trains have become more frequent and passengers are often evacuated on their journeys, rail remains a popular way to travel between the cities. Due to the scale of the Russian attack, military aircraft were put in the air by neighboring Poland to protect its airspace, the Reuters news agency reported, citing the country’s armed forces. On Sunday, Witkoff and Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, met with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv, one day after holding intensive meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, as Washington renews its push to end the years-long war. Residents stand at a site of a Russian missile and drone attack, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on September 8, 2026. Alina Smutko/Reuters “Substantive progress was made, including movement on scheduling additional trilateral talks,” Witkoff said on X following the talks, though no major breakthroughs were announced. Russia and Ukraine had agreed to pause attacks on each other’s capitals for the duration of the weekend of diplomacy, which came after months without significant progress toward resolution. The 72-hour truce expired on Tuesday. The reprieve came after weeks of intense Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital, including a daytime strike on the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service on Friday –– the first time the building had been hit during the conflict. People take shelter inside a metro station during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 8, 2026. Alina Smutko/Reuters That strike was seen as a major escalation, and a sign that Kyiv is increasingly unable to defend its key assets against Russian attacks as it struggles with critical shortages of interceptor missiles. Zelensky said Tuesday’s attack underscored that need. “Despite very good results against cruise missiles, ballistic missiles remain particularly difficult to intercept, and every day we make the case to our partners for our need for interceptors,” he said. Ukraine has ramped up its own aerial attacks in recent months, striking targets deeper into Russian territory. A Ukrainian drone attack hit civilian infrastructure in the Russian city of Saratov, wounding ten people, including three children, the city’s governor said in a post to Telegram Tuesday. This story has been updated with additional developments. CNN’s Anna Chernova contributed to this report. The post Russia pounds Kyiv one day after visit by Witkoff and Kushner appeared first on Egypt Independent.
