Russia launched ballistic and cruise missiles at Kyiv on Tuesday, hours after a three-day ceasefire expired, striking residential buildings in two city districts and setting fires across the capital that reached at least one educational facility. The attacks came days after U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner wrapped up shuttle diplomacy through Moscow and Kyiv aimed at restarting stalled peace negotiations.
The ceasefire and what followed
The three-day ceasefire Witkoff said Ukraine and Russia had agreed to before the diplomatic visit ended Tuesday. By that morning, missiles were over the capital. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned of a major incoming strike before the attack landed. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed people were trapped inside at least one residential building. Ukrainian officials, in reporting cited by CNN, said the attack involved both ballistic and cruise missiles, and residents in the affected districts were urged to stay indoors.
The ceasefire had come after months without significant progress toward any peace arrangement. Its expiration brought the return of active strikes with no successor agreement announced. Writing on X after the trip, Witkoff said the visit produced movement on scheduling additional trilateral talks, with President Trump working toward a lasting and durable peace. No follow-on ceasefire was reported.
The diplomatic sequence
Witkoff and Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday, then were in Kyiv on Sunday with Ukrainian officials. The two-capital circuit reflects the Trump administration's approach to a war that began in February 2022: direct sequenced engagement with both parties, compressed into days.
The military picture did not pause. Ukrainian drones struck three Russian oil refineries on Monday. Russia's Saratov governor separately reported a Ukrainian drone hit civilian infrastructure in the city and injured people. Ukrainian officials said Russian attacks over the prior day killed multiple people and wounded dozens more across the country.
The ceasefire lasted three days. No date for the next round of talks has been announced.