Kiev, 8 September 2026 (dpa/MIA) - At least two people have been killed after Russia resumed heavy strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kiev following a brief ceasefire, Ukrainian officials said early on Tuesday.

Kiev and Moscow agreed to pause strikes on each other's capitals for three days to enable Washington's negotiators to visit over the weekend.

Explosions were reported overnight in Kiev, with several residential buildings, a school and cars hit by falling drone debris, Ukrainian media reported. At least two people had been killed and 10 others injured.

The Kyiv Independent, citing Mayor Vitali Klitschko, said several people were buried under the rubble of a damaged apartment building.

Medics had been sent to one of the attacked sites, Klitschko said.

Air raid alarms were triggered in other parts of the country, the Kyiv Independent reported. 

In neighbouring Poland to the west, air defences were placed on alert, the military said.

On Monday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media that there was significant damage to residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure in Kiev. 

He said critical infrastructure in the region had been attacked. In the Odessa region, a local market was reportedly attacked, and in Kharkiv, two people were injured, he added.

He spoke of a complex attack by Russia involving ballistic missiles, anti-ship missiles, cruise missiles and drones. The air force had intercepted 175 projectiles, but not all of them, Zelensky said.

In Russia, authorities reported a Ukrainian drone strike in the Saratov region that caused damage to civilian infrastructure and injured at least 10 people, including three minors.

Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing the regional governor, that rescue services had been deployed to the area.

Several houses were reportedly damaged. In the Russian border region of Bryansk, according to the acting regional governor, Yegor Kovalchuk, a man was killed in a Ukrainian attack in the town of Starodub, just over 30 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. Three others were reportedly injured. 

The claims made by both sides in the conflict could not initially be independently verified.

Over the weekend, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner first visited Moscow and then, for the first time, Kiev to speak with the warring parties about ending the war in Ukraine. 

The US sees itself as a mediator. No immediate progress was initially apparent after the trips.

Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for more than four and a half years. Kiev's counterstrikes have focussed on oil infrastructure and more recently on Russian online retailers.

Photo: EPA