Ukraine War08 September, 20263 min read
Russia Resumes Missile And Drone Attacks On Kyiv After Witkoff And Kushner Visit
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Russia launched missiles and drones at Kyiv, ending a 72-hour truce tied to mediators' visit. Casualties reported range from 2 to 5 dead and 8 to 30 injured.
9 outlets told this the same way.
Kyiv strike after pause
Russia resumed large-scale attacks on Kyiv after a 72-hour pause tied to the visit to Moscow and Kiev by U.S. mediators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with EFE reporting that at least three people died and eight were injured in the new missile and drone strike. EFE said the attack was the first major offensive on the city after the pause, and it added that Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klichkó reported damage to residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure across several districts. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrí Sibiga condemned the attack, writing on X: “Sus misiles balísticos (los del presidente ruso Vladímir Putin) suenan más fuerte que sus palabras sobre diplomacia”.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that during the new mass attack it shot down two ballistic missiles and 31 cruise missiles, while also reporting that Russia used 32 cruise missiles in total and that 166 drones were used, with 142 intercepted. The same EFE account said the drones and missiles that were not intercepted hit 29 unspecified locations in Ukraine.
Ukrainian and Russian responses
El Confidencial said the attack left at least three people dead and eight injured in Kyiv, describing it as the first major assault after the 72-hour moratorium on attacks on the capitals ordered by Russia and Ukraine ahead of Witkoff and Kushner’s visit. El Confidencial also tied the renewed strikes to Russia’s effort to exploit Ukrainian air-defense vulnerabilities, saying the Ukrainian Army has a severe deficit of interceptors for Patriot systems and has difficulty downing the jet-powered drones Russia is using. Ukrainian President Volodímir Zelenski, as quoted in EFE, acknowledged the difficulties Ukraine faces intercepting Russian ballistic missiles and said he remained open to an agreement that would end attacks on energy infrastructure and agricultural exports.
In Al Jazeera Net’s account, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Russia bombarded the capital with a volley of drones and missiles, killing 5 people, and the report added that Kyiv was “exploding and burning” according to the EU ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova. Al Jazeera Net further quoted Zelenskiy describing the attack as “complex” and aimed at causing “as much loss of life as possible,” while also stating that the Ukrainian Air Force said nearly all cruise missiles and two ballistic missiles were shot down.
Regional fallout and next steps
Beyond Kyiv, EFE said Russia’s mass strike included impacts in Odesa and it reported that at least two people died and another was injured after a Ukrainian attack on the annexed peninsula of Crimea, according to the crimean leader Serguéi Axiónov. EFE also reported that Ukraine attacked a Russian refinería and the aeródromo ‘Engels’ in the region of Sarátov, about 700 kilometers southeast of Moscow, and it cited Román Busarguín saying the drone attack caused damage to civil infrastructure and that preliminary reports included wounded people. Al Jazeera Net added that Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said eight more regions were targeted, and it reported that about 100 people were evacuated after Russian drones hit a train in the Sumy region.
In the same Al Jazeera Net account, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said European calls for an immediate ceasefire hide, in his view, a desire to buy time to rearm Ukraine, and he added that Russia is open to negotiations but “will not stop carrying out military tasks during these talks”. The article also said Lavrov claimed Europe failed to participate in resolving the Ukrainian crisis and would find it hard to regain that opportunity, while EFE said rescue and assessment efforts continued after the renewed salvo.