Live blog Ukrainian war:
Witkoff and Kushner travel to Moscow and Kyiv
September 4th, 2026, 7:10 p.m. Reading time: 1 min.
Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff listen to US Vice President Vance during a press conference. (Archive image) dpa
Ukraine guarantees security for US negotiators in Moscow +++ Ukrainian secret service headquarters hit by Russian drone +++ Exchange of fire between security forces in Kiev +++ all news in the live blog
You can also find all texts, background information and comments on the war in Ukraine on our special page.
Robert Dikomeit
Zelenskyj: Kushner and Witkoff are coming to Kiev on Sunday after visiting Moscow
The two US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected in Kiev on Sunday, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Before that, they would visit Moscow, Zelensky said on Friday. During their stay in the Russian capital, Ukraine will guarantee security in Russian airspace. Conversely, Russia must also stop its air strikes on Ukraine during the two envoys' visit.
Due to security concerns, it was not clear until recently whether the trip planned for the weekend by US President Donald Trump's two negotiators would take place. According to insiders, the US government first demanded guarantees that Ukraine would not attack Moscow during the envoy's stay and that Russia would spare Kiev in return.
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Ukrainian intelligence headquarters hit by Russian drone
According to F.A.Z. information, the headquarters of the Ukrainian domestic secret service SBU in Kiev was hit by a Russian drone. The AFP news agency also writes about such an attack, citing a reporter. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj said on the Telegram online service that the attack was “directly” aimed at the office of the intelligence chief. The head of state therefore instructed SBU boss Olexander Poklad to respond to the Russians in a “mirror image” to this blow.
According to the news agency, AFP reporters saw several ambulances near the building in the center of the Ukrainian capital. According to the city administration, at least seven people were injured in the attack. According to the Reuters news agency, thick black smoke rises above the building that was hit. It is one of the most important government buildings in Ukraine.
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Freelance journalist Christian-Zsolt Varga was on site in Kiev when the domestic secret service headquarters was hit by a drone. He wrote down what he experienced for us:
"It's 3:30 p.m. local time when a Russian attack drone flies low over the center of Kiev. I'm sitting in front of a café with a Ukrainian photographer colleague when suddenly the roar can be heard above us. The next moment the black missile shoots over us.
“I throw myself to the ground, immediately followed by a violent bang.”
The drone hit the headquarters of the Ukrainian domestic secret service SBU almost a hundred meters away. On the way there, there are broken pieces of glass on the street, and the window front of the recently opened Café Zavertaylo has been completely deglazed. Disjointed employees and passers-by stand in front of it. Fire brigade, police and ambulance arrive quickly. Flames are coming from the windows of the SBU building and thick smoke is rising.”
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WHO: Major humanitarian camp hit in Ukraine
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one of Ukraine's most important camps was hit in an airstrike. “Humanitarian medical supplies were stored in the camp in the Kiev region,” said WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier on Friday. Access is not possible for the time being due to thick smoke and for safety reasons. WHO employees were not injured.
The attack was part of a “broader pattern affecting humanitarian operations across the country,” the WHO spokesman said. So far this year, at least 20 attacks have affected camps where humanitarian aid goods were stored. In recent months, three camps used by the WHO in different regions of Ukraine have been damaged by air strikes, the spokesman said. As a result, medical supplies that were intended for frontline areas and regions that are difficult to reach were destroyed. According to the WHO spokesman, the locations of all camps used in Ukraine have been communicated to the parties to the conflict.
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Exchange of fire between security forces in Kyiv: Zelenskyj demands clarification
Masked and armed security forces are not a rare sight in Kyiv. For example, they stand at checkpoints in front of the sealed off government district or in front of military properties. But it's not every day that you see them firing shots, especially at other masked security forces. That is why what happened on Wednesday in the Dnipro district is a topic of conversation in Ukraine.
Videos from Wednesday night show rough exchanges of words and gunfire between men in camouflage clothing in a residential area. Surrounding streets were closed and shots were fired again in the morning. Until Wednesday afternoon, masked people stood gesticulating in front of each other in the large housing estate. Official communication about this was initially sparse, but rumors spread even faster.
According to what is known so far, two security agencies were involved in the incident; the domestic secret service SBU and the military intelligence service HUR. At the center of their dispute is the whereabouts of Stepan Kaplunov, a Russian citizen who has been fighting on Ukraine's side against Russia since 2014. He is part of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), an association of Russian right-wing extremists operating under the umbrella of the HUR and led by the neo-Nazi Denis Kapustin (Nikitin). There is conflicting information about the course of events in the large housing estate and their interpretation.
From the point of view of the domestic secret service SBU, an operation by the Russian domestic secret service FSB with the aim of killing a Russian opposition figure has been thwarted. During a related house search in the residential area, SBU agents were attacked by an armed group of people. On Thursday, the SBU distributed a video of Kaplunov in which he stated in front of a camera (apparently under pressure) that he had been contacted on behalf of the FSB about contract killings against army members. In addition, the SBU published screenshots of a Telegram chat history, which is said to provide evidence of exchanges about paid contract killings on Ukrainian territory. Ukrainian media later reported that the attack was planned by the leader of the Chechen government in exile, Akhmed Zakayev.
Kaplunov's lawyer and representatives of HUR and RDK, however, spread a different version. They accuse the SBU of having abducted Kaplunov at the end of August. They also suspect that SBU agents tried to hide forbidden items in Kaplunow's apartment on Wednesday night in order to foist them on him. As a result, HUR members came to the scene to thwart the plan. The conflict then arose from the confrontation with the SBU agents present, in the course of which SBU representatives also shot at unarmed people; three people were injured as a result.
The conflict takes place on an open stage. With accusations, video messages and numerous statements of support on social media. The respective content shows which part of the fragmented security apparatus the senders consider themselves to be. The two secret services SBU and HUR cooperate in the fight against Russia, but are also in a certain competitive relationship. Conflicting business interests are also likely to lead to conflicts, particularly in the criminal sector.
President Zelensky took pains to condemn the shooting without taking sides himself. On Wednesday morning, his press team said he had criticized those responsible and demanded an explanation. A video message followed on Thursday in which he generally criticized the clashes and promised clarification. “In Ukraine you can only shoot at Russian occupiers,” he said. Others are now responsible for clarifying the affair: the public prosecutor's office and another agency from the security apparatus, the state investigation office. There should also be personal consequences. Zelensky announced that he would dismiss a deputy head of both services.
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Russia attacks energy facilities in Odessa
Russia attacked energy infrastructure facilities in the southern Ukrainian region of Odessa during the night. The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy therefore warned of possible network restrictions. Odessa Governor Oleh Kiper said earlier that one person was killed in the attack. At least five people were injured. In recent weeks, Russia has repeatedly attacked the Odessa region, focusing on port and energy infrastructure.
In addition, according to the government in Moscow, Russian armed forces attacked two cargo ships in the Black Sea. The Defense Ministry said they had weapons, ammunition and other military equipment on board for Ukraine. Such information about war events cannot be independently verified.
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Ian Liesch
Dead from Ukrainian shelling in Belgorod region
According to authorities, at least four people were killed by Ukrainian shelling in the Russian border region of Belgorod. Three others were injured, the acting governor of the western Russian region, Alexander Shuvayev, said on Telegram. The victims were traveling in an ambulance in the city of Shebekino. Shebekino is only around five kilometers from the Russian-Ukrainian border. Russian troops have advanced up to ten kilometers into the neighboring Ukrainian region of Kharkiv along this section of the border.
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Ian Liesch
Zelensky hopes that Trump's envoy will visit Kiev soon
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is hoping that US President Donald Trump's envoys will visit Kiev soon. “We are counting on a meeting in the coming days,” Zelensky said in his evening speech on Thursday. According to Zelensky, Trump is sending his envoys to Moscow and Kyiv. If Trump's golf partner Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner come, it would be their first visit to Kiev since the start of Trump's second term.
Zelensky said “tentative dates” had been set for the envoys’ first visit to the Ukrainian capital. It is important that the USA “remains active” in diplomacy. In July, Zelensky said he had spoken to Witkoff and Kushner “to revitalize diplomacy and bring peace closer.” The two have already been to Moscow several times to talk about ending Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
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Russia protests against the seizure of a ship
The government in Moscow lodges a formal protest with the Norwegian ambassador following the seizure of a Russian ship by Norwegian authorities. According to the Reuters news agency, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it was demanding the release of the ship and urging its return. Norway is holding the “Professor Molchanov” in the Arctic to enforce a $4.22 billion compensation claim from the Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz. Naftogaz was awarded this sum because of the expropriation of its assets in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
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Marine Inspector Kaack warns of the Russian Navy's increasing aggressiveness
The outgoing naval inspector Jan Christian Kaack has urgently warned against Russia's growing maritime aggressiveness on the occasion of the impending change at the top of the German naval forces. In the North Sea, but especially in the Baltic Sea, the Russian Navy is acting increasingly aggressively with intimidation attempts, drone overflights and spying on bases, he said on Thursday in Hamburg. The naval chief also attributes various acts of sabotage to Russia.
Kaack also addressed the currently discussed action against hundreds of Russian-controlled oil freighters, whose cargo is used by Moscow to finance the war against Ukraine. He pointed out that Russia is increasingly staffing these often foreign-flagged and technically deficient ships with armed personnel and guard teams to prevent European security forces from intercepting the ships. They are also sometimes accompanied by units of the Russian Navy. With the shadow fleet, Russia now exports almost as much oil to third countries as it did before to Europe via pipelines. Several hundred of the well over 1,000 ships are sanctioned by the EU. This means they are not allowed to call at ports or use any services.
Kaack gave a kind of farewell speech at a conference in Hamburg on Thursday, in which he also described the effort to make the Navy defense-ready despite ongoing shortages of ammunition, materials and personnel. With regard to hybrid Russian activities, Kaack had already pointed out that since the end of 2024 it has been possible to significantly improve the diffuse situation picture through data coordination and more intensive reconnaissance. According to Handelsblatt, Kaack said that the time it took to detect abnormalities had decreased from 17 hours to one hour.
The main changes during his term in office include drone warfare at sea and the increasing importance of unmanned units. Vice Admiral Kaack, who will turn 63 in December, will hand over his duties to Wilhelm Tobias Abry at the end of the month and go into somewhat early retirement. His successor Abry is already looking at one
