Putin pounds Kyiv with brutal barrage of missile and drone strikes after three-day halt as Trump’s envoys leave

VLADIMIR Putin has bombarded Kyiv with ballistic missile and drone strikes, killing at least two people and bringing an end to a fragile three-day truce. The brutal overnight onslaught came as Donald Trump‘s peace envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner left the Ukrainian capital after holding talks with Volodymyr Zelensky. Columns of smoke rise above Kyiv after a brutal Russian missile and drone barrage Credit: Reuters It comes just after Volodymyr Zelensky (left) held talks with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (middle) and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner Credit: Reuters Putin’s pounding of Kyiv has cast doubt on Trump’s startling claims that the Russian dictator was “ready to negotiate” and “discuss” avenues to restart peace talks. Drones and fearsome Tu-95MS and Tu-160 strategic bombers targeted civilians in the latest barrage, striking the upper floors of a 26-story tower block. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! At least ten residents had to be rescued after they were trapped in a five-story that was engulfed in flames. Kyiv resident Iryna Barisenkova, 61, said she heard explosions while traveling on public transport and was told there was a large fire in the capital. She said: “Everything was thundering on the left bank. It was just brutal.” Barisenkova said she slept well during the previous two nights while Witkoff and Kushner traveled to Kyiv and then stayed in the city. “We got some rest, thanks to them,” she said. “Let them come more often so they don’t shell us.” Most read in The Sun A firefighter works at the site of a business targeted in the onslaught Credit: Reuters A rescue worker puts out a fire of a building destroyed after in the attacks Credit: AP A major fire ignited at a multinational food packaging and processing factory in the city’s north after Iskander-M/Kn-23 ballistic missile strikes. Ukrainian forces said they shot down and suppressed two ballistic missiles, 31 cruise missiles and 142 drones. The Kremlin claimed today that it hit stores of cruise missiles and drones in Kyiv and Kyiv region, as well as Chornomorsk Port. Zelensky said: “The attack was complex, and the Russians deliberately planned it to cause as much damage as possible to people’s lives, using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, and Shahed drones. Zelensky accused the Kremlin of trying to cause as much damage to people’s lives as possible Credit: Reuters At least two people were killed in the vicious overnight attacks Credit: Reuters “There is significant damage to residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure in the capital.” Poland meanwhile scrambled fighter jets in a “preventive” measure due to the powerful strikes. “Due to the activity of long-range Russian air forces conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory, military aviation has begun operating in Polish airspace,” said Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces. “Ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached a state of readiness.” Nato has been forced by Russian actions to scramble warplanes 700 times in two years. In retaliation, Ukraine blitzed a strategic oil refinery in Saratov region, igniting it in flames, near the Engels-2 base of Tu-95Ms bombers used to attack Kyiv. Ten people were injured, including three children, in the attack on Saratov, said regional governor Roman Busargin. An electrical station was also destroyed in a spectacular explosion by a Ukrainian drone in Russian-occupied Melitopol. Russia said it had “intercepted and destroyed” almost 400 Ukrainian attack drones over its territory and occupied Crimea. The strikes came as Zelensky revealed he was told by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner that Putin was now more open to US-brokered talks. He remained sceptical due to Russia’s battlefield actions and escalation of air strikes on Kyiv which do not show a readiness to compromise, he told Axios. Zelensky was speaking before the overnight assault on Kyiv. The Ukrainian leader said “my feeling is that Putin needs Trump” and “doesn’t want to upset him”, and may want to give the US president a diplomatic win ahead of the November presidential elections. A part of a new peace process could be de-escalation in strikes by both sides. Zelensky said: “There are ideas around energy, grain, electricity and oil and gas [exports]. We have different interests, Russia and we.” It is possible that Ukraine’s recent attacks on Russia – including the crippling of its oil supplies – have put pressure on Putin. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned that the West is on the brink of a “real war” with Russia. He claimed that German had effectively tried to start a war after they blamed Moscow for an explosive drone plot on Leipzig Airport last month. Comment now