Russia resumes air attacks on Kyiv following US peace envoy visits

Russia pummelled Kyiv with drones and missiles on Tuesday, resuming its air attacks on the Ukrainian capital after a brief halt for the visit of US peace negotiators, and killing five people.

Russia's main targets in its attacks on Monday night and Tuesday morning were Kyiv and the Odesa region of southern Ukraine.

The overnight attack caused fires in several districts across the Ukrainian capital, damaging at least 14 high-rise buildings, a dorm, a school, a clinic, warehouses and other sites, officials said.

Two people were killed in a strike on a warehouse, bringing the total death toll in the city to five, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Close to 30 people have been injured, authorities said. Officials from Russia reported three people killed and 13 wounded in areas it controls.

Explosions reverberated across the city as Russia kept menacing it with jet-powered drones into Tuesday afternoon.

"Kyiv was exploding and burning," Katarina Mathernova, the EU ambassador to Ukraine, said in a social media post.

Explosions were heard in Kyiv for nearly five hours, according to Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ivan Vyhivskyi.

More than 50 sites were damaged during the overnight attack, including residential buildings, dormitories, schools, shops, gas stations and a flour production plant, he said.

In a separate strike, a Russian drone partially destroyed a Ukrainian TV channel building in Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called it "a horrific attack" and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of undermining US peace efforts.

"His ballistic missiles speak louder than his words on diplomacy," Mr Sybiha said on X, referring to Mr Putin.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces overnight launched a massive strike on Ukrainian military industry facilities.

It provided a detailed list of its targets, including places storing Ukrainian drones and cruise missiles, as well as transport, logistics and distribution centres for military cargo in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, the ministry said.

US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff visited Moscow and Kyiv for separate talks with Mr Putin and Mr Zelenskyy over the weekend.

It signalled the Trump administration's renewed push to end Russia's four-and-a-half year war in Ukraine.

The meetings appeared to produce no substantial breakthrough but the Kremlin said it did not rule out the resumption of three-way negotiations also including the United States.

Both Moscow and Kyiv halted strikes on their capitals for three days to ensure the security of the US peace negotiators after which both then resumed their deadly air war.

In a call held between the two leaders on Tuesday, Mr Putin assured US President Donald Trump Russia did not harbour aggressive intentions towards Europe, after Germany accused Russia of orchestrating sabotage attacks on its soil.

Yuri Ushakov, Mr Putin's foreign affairs adviser, said the hour-long conversation between Mr Putin and Mr Trump was "constructive and quite frank".

There was no immediate White House comment on the call.

Mr Ushakov told reporters that "in view of the speculation about Russia's alleged hostile intentions toward European countries, it was underlined that we don't have any aggressive plans regarding Europe."

Mr Ushakov also said Mr Putin told Mr Trump about the combat situation in Ukraine and Russia's plans to make battlefield gains and achieve its military goals.

He said that Moscow has a positive view of the results of the weekend visit to Moscow by Witkoff and Kushner.

"An objective and thorough analysis of the ongoing special military operation and generally our view of prospective battlefield advances and the achievement of the special military operation's goals and tasks was given," Mr Ushakov said.

Meanwhile, Mr Zelenskyy said he is counting on meeting with Mr Trump around September 20, about the same time that the UN General Assembly is being held in New York.

He indicated he will press Mr Trump to provide more Patriot air defence systems that Kyiv needs to counter Russia's ballistic missiles.

Ukraine needs 300 Patriot missiles from its partners' stocks, 500 air-to-air interceptors and $US2 billion ($2.7 billion) for more drones, UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting told the meeting of countries providing help.

Also on Tuesday, the European Commission approved a loan of 3.2 billion euros ($5.1 billion) for Kyiv to purchase components for Patriot air defence systems, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said on its Telegram channel.

Mr Zelenskyy thanked US officials for their efforts to unblock negotiations with Russia, which have been stuck since early this year with little progress.

"As for the peace package that Kushner spoke about and the new ideas, I'll tell you frankly, there were indeed a couple of very good, worthwhile ideas," Mr Zelenskyy said in audio messages answering reporters' questions.