Russia pummelled Kyiv with drones and missiles on Tuesday, resuming its air attacks on the Ukrainian capital after a brief halt for the visit of US peace negotiators, and killing five people.
The overnight attack caused fires in several districts across the Ukrainian capital, damaging at least 14 high-rise buildings, a dorm, a school, a clinic, warehouses and other sites, officials said. More than 50 sites were damaged overall, including residential buildings, dormitories, schools, shops, gas stations and a flour production plant, according to Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Vyhivskyi.
Two people were killed in a strike on a warehouse, bringing the total death toll in the city to five, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Close to 30 people have been injured, authorities said. Officials from Russia reported three people killed and 13 wounded in areas it controls.
Explosions reverberated across the city as Russia kept menacing it with jet-powered drones into Tuesday afternoon. "Kyiv was exploding and burning," Katarina Mathernova, the EU ambassador to Ukraine, said in a social media post. Explosions were heard in Kyiv for nearly five hours, according to Vyhivskyi.
In a separate strike, a Russian drone partially destroyed a Ukrainian TV channel building in Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called it "a horrific attack" and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of undermining US peace efforts. "His ballistic missiles speak louder than his words on diplomacy," Mr Sybiha said on X. "Strike after strike on residential buildings brings him no closer to winning this war — it is nothing but senseless terror."
The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces overnight launched a massive strike on Ukrainian military industry facilities. It provided a detailed list of its targets, including places storing Ukrainian drones and cruise missiles, as well as transport, logistics and distribution centres for military cargo in Kyiv and the Kyiv region.
Trump and Putin hold call
US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff visited Moscow and Kyiv for separate talks with Mr Putin and Mr Zelenskyy over the weekend. The meetings appeared to produce no substantial breakthrough but the Kremlin said it did not rule out the resumption of three-way negotiations also including the United States.
Both Moscow and Kyiv halted strikes on their capitals for three days to ensure the security of the US peace negotiators, after which both then resumed their deadly air war.
In a call held between the two leaders on Tuesday, Mr Putin assured US President Donald Trump Russia did not harbour aggressive intentions towards Europe, after Germany accused Russia of orchestrating sabotage attacks on its soil. Yuri Ushakov, Mr Putin's foreign affairs adviser, said the hour-long conversation between the presidents covered broader European security issues.