Moscow resumed strikes on Kyiv following the expiration of a three-day ceasefire in attacks on both capitals, a pause initiated during diplomatic visits by US envoys that failed to yield tangible progress toward peace.
Ukrainian city officials reported that Russian air raids damaged two residential buildings early Tuesday. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine confirmed that drones struck structures in the capital, as well as in the Boryspil and Fastiv districts on Kyiv’s outskirts.
The Kyiv city military administration issued an air raid alert urging residents to seek shelter amid the threat of incoming “enemy” drones.
Concurrently, Russian regional Governor Roman Busargin stated that a Ukrainian drone strike on civilian infrastructure in Saratov, nearly 1,000 kilometers from Moscow, injured several people. The casualty count from both incidents remains unconfirmed.
Moscow and Kyiv had mutually agreed to suspend strikes on each other’s capitals for three days while Washington dispatched envoys to both cities, though combat operations continued in other regions.
The ceasefire was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after US President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, visited Moscow and Kyiv over the weekend.
Russia’s state news agency TASS confirmed that the three-day suspension ordered by Putin for his forces officially expired on Monday evening local time.
Witkoff and Kushner held discussions with officials in both Moscow and Kyiv regarding an end to the conflict. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov characterized the over three-hour meeting in Moscow on Saturday as “highly useful.”
![Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) welcomes Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner (L) and US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff (2-L) during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 05 September 2026. [Gavriil Grigorov Sputnik/Kremlin/EPA]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==)
Following his talks with Zelenskyy, Witkoff stated, “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.”
Witkoff also highlighted the possibility of reviving three-way negotiations to end the conflict.
A White House official informed Reuters that subsequent steps regarding the war—initiated by Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022—would be announced in the coming weeks.