Russia resumed strikes on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, shortly after the departure of US peace negotiators, attacking the city with ballistic missiles and killing two people, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the pause in attacks as US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited the Russian and Ukrainian capitals at the weekend.

The fresh explosions triggered fires and car alarms in the city, and Kyiv’s city military administration said at least two people were killed and seven wounded.

The Ukrainian army’s air force reported a missile attack, and the city military administration urged residents to take shelter as the air defence system was in operation.

The strikes damaged buildings across the capital, including a five-storey apartment block in the Solomianskyi district, while vehicles caught fire in the Podilskyi district, authorities said.

Mr Klitschko said people were trapped in a residential building.

Russia’s state news agency TASS confirmed earlier that the pause in strikes had expired.

Air alerts were active in a dozen regions across Ukraine at around 5.30am local time (3.30am Irish time).

Ukraine’s air force claimed Russia launched dozens of missiles and 166 drones that targeted mainly the region surrounding Kyiv and the southern region of Odesa.

The air force said on Telegram it downed 142 drones, 31 of 32 cruise missiles, and two ballistic missiles.

It did not disclose how many ballistic missiles had been used in the attack.

The alert in Kyiv has since been cleared.

Telegram channels monitoring air threats on Ukraine said Russia had started to transport ballistic missiles and relocate heavy bombers from the country’s east to airfields closer to Ukraine.

Poland also announced “aviation operations” had commenced following the Russian attack.

US proposals

Mr Witkoff claimed yesterday that “substantive progress” in the discussions with Ukraine and Russia, raising the prospect of reviving three-way peace talks to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

“President Trump is working hard to stop the killing and work towards a lasting and durable peace,” he said on X.

Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner met Mr Putin in Moscow on Saturday, before holding separate talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in their first official trip to Kyiv.

The Kremlin announced yesterday that it did not rule out three-way talks, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters: “It is too early to say anything about the venue or the exact dates at this stage.”

Mr Zelensky told US news outlet Axios that the US was pushing to de-escalate the conflict ahead of the long winter.

Russia has struck Ukraine’s energy grid each winter since invading in February 2022, cutting power and heating to millions in temperatures as low as -20C.

Mr Zelensky said the US envoys – who held separate talks with the Ukrainian and Russian leaders – told him that “the Russians are ready to negotiate”.

“Russia really thinks that this winter can help them to break us,” he said.

However, the Trump administration could pressure Mr Putin to de-escalate, he added, and the Russian leader “doesn’t want” to “upset” his US counterpart.

Mr Zelensky said the weekend talks included US proposals around energy facilities, grain shipments and oil and gas exports, but declined to give further details.

During previous negotiations, Russia and Ukraine had broadly stuck to their positions, with talks stalling in particular over the issue of territories in eastern Ukraine of which Russia claims.