Russia launches missile attacks on Kyiv following US diplomatic visit

Russia launched a series of ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv on Tuesday morning, ending a three day pause in hostilities. The strikes occurred one day after US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Ukrainian officials on Sunday, following intensive meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The diplomatic effort was part of a renewed push by Washington to end the war.

Ukrainian officials reported that the attack involved ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones. The strikes caused damage to residential buildings in two districts and sparked fires across the city, including at an educational institution. According to Kyiv officials, six people were wounded and some individuals were trapped inside a residential building. In response to the scale of the attack, Poland deployed military aircraft to protect its airspace.

While the center lean source describes the event as Russia resuming attacks after a pause, the center left source frames the event as Russia pounding the capital, emphasizing the failure of the 72 hour truce to lead to a major breakthrough. The center left source also notes that Ukraine conducted a simultaneous drone attack on civilian infrastructure in the Russian city of Saratov, which wounded several people.

Steve Witkoff stated on X that substantive progress was made regarding the scheduling of additional trilateral talks, although no major breakthroughs were announced.