Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 72-hour pause in strikes on Kyiv, the Kremlin mentioned Saturday (September 5, 2026), as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow to attempt to revive a stalled push to finish Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Putin has ordered that no strikes be carried out towards Kyiv for 3 days, beginning at midnight at present,” presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov advised Russia’s Tass information company. He mentioned the choice was tied to preparations for Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner’s deliberate go to to the Ukrainian capital, which Kyiv has mentioned will happen on Sunday (September 6, 2026).
The envoys’ journey comes as either side escalate aerial assaults, some 4.5-years after the Kremlin invaded its neighbour. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned Friday (September 4, 2026) that Ukraine would halt airstrikes in the course of the envoys’ go to and urged Moscow to do the identical.
Washington’s push to finish the preventing, now in its fifth 12 months, has misplaced momentum as U.S. consideration has been targeted for the final six months on its conflict with Iran. The final recognized go to to Moscow by Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, was in January, after they met Russian President Vladimir Putin within the Kremlin. They’d by no means beforehand visited Kyiv.
The envoys have been met on the airport by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, Tass reported. Mr. Dmitriev shared images of him assembly the U.S. delegation as they disembarked, alongside the caption, “Welcome to Moscow Peacemakers.” With peace efforts stalled, Russia has intensified its assaults on Kyiv and different cities with relentless bombardments lately stretching into daytime, profiting from Ukraine’s scarcity of air defence techniques.
On Friday (September 4, 2026), a Russian drone hit one of the crucial essential authorities buildings in Kyiv — the headquarters of Ukraine’s Safety Service, referred to as the SBU, which is among the companies concerned in finishing up deep-strike operations inside Russia.
The long-range strikes by Ukraine have hit Russian navy services, oil refineries and e-commerce hubs, looking for to undermine the Kremlin’s conflict effort and economic system, in addition to make unusual residents really feel the implications of the conflict.
Zelenskyy hyperlinks Russian strikes to envoys’ go to
The air conflict between Russia and Ukraine has intensified as troops have struggled to make progress alongside the 1,250-kilometre entrance line. Russia has lately been utilizing fast-flying, jet-powered drones, and the recurring wail of air-raid sirens has change into a part of day by day life in Kyiv.
Do not gamble: On the Russia-Ukraine conflict
In a social media put up on Saturday (September 5, 2026), Mr. Zelenskyy mentioned that Russia had carried out in a single day strikes on Kyiv and Boryspil worldwide airports, and linked the assault to the deliberate U.S. go to.
“Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a response to the discussions and preparations for the potential for the U.S. facet utilizing an plane to journey to Ukraine,” he mentioned.
“We’ve taken observe of this Russian transfer, and subsequent week we’ll modify our operation accordingly relating to Russian airspace, which has change into harmful due to our drones and missiles within the sky. After all, there are and will probably be no threats to diplomacy from our facet.”
Strikes kill 5 at Ukrainian industrial website
Russian assaults killed 5 individuals and wounded 5 extra at an industrial facility in Ukraine’s southern Dnipropetrovsk area, native navy administration head Oleksandr Hanzha mentioned. He described these killed as staff on the website. “A locksmith, an electrician, a plumber and a machinist. Folks of peaceable professions. They have been merely working their shift. They have been doing their job when enemy missiles minimize off their lives,” he mentioned.
A 62-year-old man was wounded and a number of other houses and an condominium constructing have been broken in a separate assault on the area’s Nikopol district, Hanzha mentioned.
In an announcement on Saturday (September 5, 2026), Russia’s Ministry of Defence mentioned it had carried out strikes on two metallurgical crops within the area, describing them as “main suppliers of metallic merchandise for Ukraine’s navy manufacturing.” An extra two individuals have been wounded in an in a single day Russian assault on Ukraine’s Kyiv area, mentioned Tymur Tkachenko, head of the regional navy administration. Within the Boryspil district, a hearth sparked by a strike partially destroyed a nine-story residential constructing.
Russian forces additionally repeatedly struck a procuring centre within the southern Mykolaiv area with drones in a single day, damaging retail premises and sparking fires, Ukraine’s state emergency companies mentioned. A 72-year-old man and a 17-year-old woman have been damage.
Emergency crews responding to the incident have been repeatedly compelled to withdraw to security due to the specter of additional strikes, returning every time circumstances allowed, the emergency companies mentioned.
Russia launched ballistic missiles from its Rostov and Voronezh areas and deployed 167 assault drones in a single day, Ukraine’s air pressure mentioned. The drones included Shahed-type plane — round half of them jet-powered — in addition to Geran and decoy drones. Ukrainian air defences shot down or suppressed 128 drones, based on the air pressure.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian assaults wounded three individuals, together with a 14-year-old woman, in Russia’s border area of Belgorod, native officers mentioned.
In an announcement, Russia’s Ministry of Defence mentioned that its forces had shot down 53 Ukrainian drones in a single day.
Printed – September 05, 2026 06:12 pm IST
