Putin orders the cessation of strikes on Kiev coinciding with the visit of an American delegation and the escalation of political tensions in Germany

Interfax news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a cessation of strikes on Kiev for a period of three days, starting today (Saturday), as part of preparations for the visit of an American delegation.

Peskov also told TASS news agency that Putin is scheduled to meet with US special representatives Steve Witkov and Jared Kushner today.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow today to present a proposal to end the war that has been going on for more than 4 years in Ukraine, according to Agence France-Presse.

After talks in Moscow, US President Donald Trump's envoys are scheduled to head to Kiev, in the latest attempt by Washington to break the diplomatic stalemate, in the most violent conflict Europe has witnessed since World War II.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of trying to obstruct the envoys' visit, by launching raids on Friday night and Saturday on Kiev airports, in addition to striking a civilian target in the Dnipro region, killing 5 people.

Zelensky said: “It is clear that these Russian strikes on airports constitute a response to the discussions and preparations related to the possibility of the American side visiting Ukraine by air, and landing at Kiev or Boryspil airport.”

This will be the first visit of Trump's friend, businessman Witkoff, and his son-in-law Kushner, to war-torn Kiev, since Trump returned to the White House last year pledging to resolve the conflict.

The almost continuous Russian drone attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, have imposed a new harsh reality that witnesses passengers being stranded, children being evacuated to the tunnels in the middle of the school day, and celebrations being cancelled, while sirens have become an annoying sound accompanying walks, according to a Reuters report.

Kiev has survived many shocks since the start of the comprehensive Russian invasion in February 2022. Despite the initial shock of the war and the successive drone and ballistic missile attacks, the population gradually adapted and succeeded in restoring a measure of normalcy.

But as the fifth winter of war approached, this situation became more difficult to maintain. Over the summer, Moscow began sending swarms of high-speed jet drones, which are more destructive and difficult to counter than older propeller-powered models.

Over the past 10 days, air strikes have continued around the clock, often conducted by Russia at night, making Ukrainians feel that the tide of war is once again tilting in Moscow's favor.

The biggest thing on the minds of Kiev's three million residents is the approaching winter. Russia's attacks have caused frequent power and water outages since the beginning of the war, but their severity over the past ten days indicates greater disruptions.

Bohdan (29 years old) said as he inspected his apartment building damaged by a Russian attack last week: “Last year was very difficult for us... After this attack, as you can see, the situation is likely to become more difficult, so we decided to move to another place.”

With fighting on the battle front lines causing hundreds of deaths and injuries every week without significant field gains, Russia and Ukraine have been waging an escalating air war for months, exchanging attacks on energy and logistics facilities.

Repeated air raid warnings last Monday led to the suspension of subway services linking the two banks of the Dnipro River, which divides the capital. At Osokorky station, near the opposite bank of the city centre, nurse and psychologist Yuliana Oleinik waited with her two children on a crowded platform until the alarm was raised.

She said: “I am already thinking that we may have to bring something that will allow us to spend the night at the metro station near the school... The situation was difficult at school last year, and now I honestly do not know what to do. "I don't really know."

She added: “The roads leading to central Kiev are crowded, the bus stations are overcrowded, and people are forced to walk long distances to go to and from work.” Shopping for food has become more difficult, as major stores close their doors when the sirens sound, meaning customers have to leave the building before completing their purchases.

Yuri Ihnat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, said that Russia launched more than 2,800 jet drones into Ukraine during August, after the use of this type increased fivefold in July compared to June.

He added that the interception rate of these drones was about 60 percent, compared to more than 90 percent for slower traditional drones. Russia says that these attacks have a military goal, while Ukraine says that their purpose is to break civilian morale and pressure the government to give up territory at a time when Washington appears to be making new efforts to end the war.

However, a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Sociological Institute in August showed a sharpening of attitudes towards Russia. The percentage of opponents of giving up the unoccupied part of the Donbass region, one of the basic demands of Russian President Vladimir Putin, rose to 69 percent from 62 percent in April.

On the first day of the new school year last week, students at a Kiev school had just finished their first period when sirens sounded, and they rushed to underground shelters to continue their studies. “It is stressful for them, but the children have become more able to cope,” said school director Roman Fishchuk.

Fishchuk explained that approximately 400 children are enrolled this year in the school, which was damaged as a result of a Russian attack in May. When the young schoolgirl, Alexandra, was asked about her dream, she answered: “For the war to end.”

More than three decades after Germany's 1990 reunification, persistent East-West divisions may come into stark relief in Sunday's election in the eastern province of Saxony-Anhalt. Opinion polls indicate that the Alternative for Germany party, which is anti-immigration and has close ties to Moscow, may win an absolute majority in the provincial elections, which will allow it for the first time to form a local government, which would be a precedent for an extreme right-wing party in the history of post-war Germany.

The government's commissioner for eastern Germany, MP Elisabeth Kaiser, herself from the eastern state of Thuringia, spoke to Agence France-Presse about the historical and cultural factors that shape the region's distinct policies.

When the Berlin Wall collapsed in 1989, marking the end of the communist German Democratic Republic, many government companies were closed, leading to widespread unemployment and population displacement, especially among young women. “This was a difficult experience for many East Germans, and its effects continue across generations, becoming part of the collective memory of East Germany,” Kaiser said.

“It was about a feeling of inferiority, an experience of loss, and the realization that everything could change overnight,” she added. Decades later, wages and savings are still lower on average, and East Germans, who make up a fifth of the population, are underrepresented in political life.

The Alternative for Germany party's anti-immigration stances are widely echoed across the East, even though the proportion of foreign-born residents in the East is lower than in the West. While West Germany's post-war economic recovery relied on “guest workers,” East Germany brought in contract workers from socialist “sister countries” such as Vietnam and Mozambique.

Kaiser said that these workers “were largely isolated from the East German population,” and their contracts were of limited duration, meaning that East Germany “was not an immigrant community.” While state propaganda promoted the GDR as an internationalist state, Kaiser said that “racism, xenophobia and right-wing extremism” were also present and “unfortunately exploded in the 1990s,” a period that was called “the baseball bat years” because of attacks on foreigners.

Feelings of resentment have spread recently, especially towards Syrian and Afghan asylum seekers, according to Kaiser, with the belief that “they were getting all the additional services for free.” Kaiser also addressed warnings about the growing tendency to glorify East Germany, which is called “Ostalgie” or “nostalgia for the East.”

“In times of crisis, people remember the positive aspects of their past,” she said, adding that populists exploit “emotionally charged elements from the East German era.” Among these items is the “Simpson” motorcycle, used by the main candidate of the Alternative for Germany party, Ulrich Siegmund. Kaiser said that the bicycle “was a symbol of freedom at that time because it allowed movement.”

While older voters may remember feeling safer in East Germany, Kaiser said they often forget that “it was because everything was so censored and controlled.” She also pointed out that many in the East are proud of the peaceful revolution of 1989, and see it as evidence of their collective ability to “topple a regime.”

The Alternative for Germany party calls for closer relations with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine and the "multi-media attacks" that Berlin accuses Russia of carrying out. Kaiser said the socialization of many East Germans fostered a “strong anti-Americanism” and persistent doubts about the transatlantic alliance, doubts that have not faded during the current US administration.

Many in the East are looking forward to renewed diplomacy with Russia, a path Kaiser says the Kremlin shows no desire to follow. She added that the Soviets' tight control over Eastern Europe left "a feeling of fear of the Russians... a feeling that they should not be provoked." She pointed out that some voices in the West called for stopping “support” for the poorer eastern part of Germany, but she saw these ideas as a “disaster,” adding that they “bother me as an East German.”

She added that reducing transfer funds “will only lead to consolidating the victim role that the Alternative for Germany party always loves to adopt.” In light of the current geopolitical rifts and economic stagnation, Kaiser said that many in the East fear change given their turbulent history. She warned that the Alternative for Germany party and its far-left competitors are also on the rise in parts of the West, pointing out that Germany as a whole should look to the East as a “barometer for political earthquakes.”