President Zelenskyy confirmed the strikes aimed at oil-processing facilities in specific Russian regions and also mentioned hits on drone launch sites and a Black Sea target
Photo : AP
Explosions have been heard in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, as Russia resumed attacks following a three-day halt during a visit by US envoys seeking to revive efforts to end the war. Kyiv officials said ballistic missiles had been fired towards the city and reported damage to residential buildings in two districts.
“Please remain in shelters until the air raid alert is lifted,” officials said on Telegram.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, met Ukrainian officials in Kyiv on Sunday, a day after holding intensive talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
The meetings formed part of Washington’s renewed diplomatic push to bring Russia and Ukraine closer to a peace agreement.
Witkoff said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a three-day ceasefire ahead of the visit.
“At President Trump’s direction, United States negotiators visited both Moscow and Kyiv in order to facilitate additional dialogue to end the Russia-Ukraine War,” he said.
He said the delegations had met both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss each side’s proposals.
In Kyiv, he added, the talks also included national security advisers from the UK, Germany and France.
Fresh Strikes After Peace Push
The latest Russian attacks came a day after Ukrainian forces struck three Russian oil refineries. President Zelenskyy said on Monday that Ukrainian drones had targeted oil-processing facilities in Russia’s Perm region, Tatarstan and Ryazan.
The Perm region is home to a refinery owned by Russian private energy company Lukoil.
Zelenskyy also said Ukrainian forces had targeted Russian drone launch sites in the Kursk region and “a target” in the Black Sea, without providing further details. He posted a video on Telegram showing smoke rising from the sites following the attacks.
The Ukrainian strikes came after Zelenskyy met Witkoff and Kushner in Kyiv on Sunday.
Witkoff said on Monday that “substantive progress was made” during the discussions, including movement towards scheduling further trilateral negotiations. “President Trump is working hard to stop the killing and work towards a lasting and durable peace,” he said in a post on X.
The US envoys travelled to Kyiv by train after Russian strikes affected airports in the capital.
Zelenskyy suggested the attacks on the airports were connected to the US diplomatic effort. “Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the US side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine and land at Kyiv Airport or Boryspil Airport,” he said.
Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure have also become part of a debate over rising fuel prices in the US. Some Trump administration officials have blamed the attacks on Russian refineries for putting upward pressure on global energy prices.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN on Sunday that the Ukrainian attacks had been “the single-biggest factor”, alongside the closure of other processing plants under the previous administration.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also said Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure were contributing to higher prices. “Ukraine has decided that they want to blow up Russian energy assets and refined products. So that is creating upward price pressure on a global basis,” Bessent told Fox News programme Fox & Friends.