Russian strikes hit Kyiv after pause for U.S. talks ends

Russian airstrikes hit Kyiv early Tuesday, killing at least two people and wounding seven as a brief pause tied to U.S.-led peace talks came to an end, city authorities said.

The attacks marked the resumption of strikes on the Ukrainian capital after U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, held separate meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The diplomatic push produced no immediate breakthrough, though U.S. and Russian officials described the talks as serious and substantive.

Kyiv’s city military administration said at least two people were killed and seven wounded in the raids. Strong explosions were heard across the capital. City officials said two residential buildings were damaged, including a five-story apartment block in the Solomianskyi district, while vehicles caught fire in the Podilskyi district. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said people were trapped in a residential building.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said drones struck buildings in Kyiv and in the Boryspil and Fastiv districts on the outskirts of the city. An air raid alert from the Kyiv city military administration urged residents to take shelter because of the threat of an “enemy” drone attack.

Russia’s state news agency TASS said the suspension ordered by Putin expired Monday evening local time. CBS News reported that both Putin and Zelenskyy had ordered a pause in fighting while Witkoff and Kushner held talks. Al Jazeera reported that Russia and Ukraine had pledged to halt strikes on each other’s capitals for three days, while fighting continued elsewhere.

After the reported strikes in Ukraine, Russian regional Governor Roman Busargin said a Ukrainian drone attack hit civilian infrastructure in Saratov, nearly 1,000 kilometers, or 621 miles, from Moscow, injuring several people. The number of casualties was not confirmed, Al Jazeera reported.

The attacks also prompted a response beyond Ukraine. Poland’s air force said Tuesday it was conducting “preventive operations” connected to Russia’s missile attacks, forcing the suspension of flights from Lublin Airport.

Witkoff and Kushner’s trip began in Moscow and continued to Kyiv as part of the latest effort to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Before the trip, Trump told reporters the envoys were traveling with a proposal to end the conflict. He said they had “an idea for peace” and that “there may be a good chance that we’ll do it.”

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said after the Moscow meeting that “our American colleagues made serious preparations for this trip” and had “also formulated a number of ideas regarding possible paths to a settlement.” Al Jazeera reported that Ushakov called the more than three-hour meeting in Moscow on Saturday “highly useful.” He did not give details of the proposals.

Following talks in Kyiv on Sunday, Witkoff said the discussions had been productive.

“We’ve had a very meaningful discussion, substantive, important, and we are very encouraged, and we look forward to continuing this as long as it takes,” he said. CBS News quoted him as saying Russia and Ukraine would need to make “compromises” to end the war.

A senior Ukrainian official told The Associated Press, on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, that much of the discussion focused on “how to get through the winter and what can be done before then.”

A White House official told Reuters that next steps on the war would be announced in the coming weeks.