Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via video link at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, May 8, 2026.
Mikhail Metzel | via Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 72-hour halt to attacks on Kiev, the Kremlin announced Saturday, as U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow to revive stalled efforts to prevent a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s TASS news agency: “President Putin has ordered no attacks on Kiev for three days starting from midnight today.” He said the decision was related to preparations for Witkov and Kushner’s visit to the Ukrainian capital, which Kyiv announced on Sunday.
The envoy’s visit comes nearly four and a half years after the Kremlin’s invasion of the neighboring country and as both sides intensify airstrikes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Friday that Ukraine would halt airstrikes during the envoy’s visit and called on Russia to do the same.
Over the past six months, U.S. efforts to cease hostilities have lost momentum as they enter their fifth year, as America’s attention has focused on the war with Iran. Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and Kushner’s last known visit to Moscow was in January, when they met with President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. The envoys had never visited Kiev before.
The envoys were met at the airport by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, TASS reported. Dmitriev shared a photo of himself meeting the disembarking US delegation with the caption: “Welcome to the Moscow Peacebuilders.”
As peace efforts stall, Russia has taken advantage of Ukraine’s lack of air defense systems to ramp up attacks on Kiev and other cities, most recently with relentless shelling that lasts into daylight hours.
On Friday, Russian drones attacked one of Kiev’s most important government buildings, the headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU. The SBU is one of the agencies involved in conducting intensive attack operations inside Russia.
Ukraine’s long-range attacks have targeted Russia’s military facilities, oil refineries, and e-commerce hubs, seeking to undermine the Kremlin’s war effort and economy while making the civilian population feel the effects of the war.
President Zelenskiy links Russian attack to special envoy’s visit
Air combat between Russia and Ukraine is intensifying, with troops struggling to advance along a 1,250-kilometre (775-mile) front. Russia has recently been using jet-powered, fast-flying drones, and the repeated screams of air raid sirens have become part of daily life in Kiev.
President Zelenskyy said in a social media post on Saturday that Russia carried out nighttime airstrikes on international airports in Kiev and Boryspol, linking the attacks to a planned visit to the United States.
“Clearly, the Russian airport attack is a reaction to discussions and preparations on the part of the United States regarding the possibility of using aircraft to travel to Ukraine,” he said.
“We are keeping an eye on this move by Russia, and next week we will adjust our operations accordingly regarding Russian airspace, which has become dangerous due to our drones and missiles. Of course, there are and will not be threats to diplomacy from our side.”
Five people killed in strike at industrial site in Ukraine
Five people were killed and another five injured in a Russian attack on an industrial facility in Ukraine’s southern Dnipropetrovsk region, local military administrator Oleksandr Hanza said. He explained that those killed were frontline employees. “Locksmiths, electricians, plumbers, mechanics. People in peaceful professions. They’re just working shifts. They were doing their jobs when enemy missiles ended their lives,” he said.
Hansa said a 62-year-old man was injured and several homes and apartment buildings were damaged in another attack in the region’s Nikopol district.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that it had attacked two metallurgical factories in the region, which it described as “the main sources of metal products for military production in Ukraine.”
Two more people were wounded in Russia’s overnight attack on Ukraine’s Kiev region, regional military administrator Timur Tkachenko said. In the Boryspil district, a nine-story residential building was partially destroyed by a fire caused by a strike.
Russian forces also repeatedly attacked shopping centers in the southern Mykolaiv region with drones at night, damaging retail stores and starting fires, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. A 72-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl suffered minor injuries.
Paramedics responding to the incident were forced to retreat to safety multiple times due to fears of further attacks, and returned whenever conditions allowed, the emergency services said.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched ballistic missiles from the Rostov and Voronezh regions and deployed 167 attack drones overnight. The drones included not only Geland drones and decoy drones, but also Shahed-type aircraft (about half of which were jet-powered). According to the Air Force, Ukraine’s air defense forces shot down or suppressed 128 drones.
Three people, including a 14-year-old girl, were also injured in a Ukrainian attack in the Russian border region of Belgorod, local officials said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the Russian military shot down 53 Ukrainian drones overnight.
