This happened at a time when US envoys are expected in the region to discuss a plan to end the more than four-year-long large-scale war.
Read more Polish firefighters received more than a thousand calls due to storm damage
US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he is sending Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv. This is the latest Washington attempt to break the diplomatic deadlock in the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II.
Russia struck a civilian target in the Dnipro region overnight, killing four people, and also attacked two Kyiv airports, Zelensky reported, accusing the Kremlin of trying to sabotage the envoys’ visit.
“It is clear that these Russian strikes on airports are a reaction to discussions and preparations for the US side possibly using a plane to travel to Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote on the social network X. He added that from Ukraine’s side “there will be no threats to diplomacy.”
This will be the first visit to war-torn Kyiv by Trump’s businessman friend S. Witkoff and son-in-law J. Kushner since the Republican returned to the US presidency last year, promising to resolve the conflict.
A plane trip would be highly unusual, as Ukraine’s airspace has been closed since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022. Leaders and officials visiting Kyiv usually travel by train.
New US plan
The envoys are expected in Kyiv on Sunday, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP, and the US publication Axios reported that on Saturday they will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Russian media reported on Saturday that the American plane has already landed in Moscow.
Trump told reporters that both negotiators will seek to assess whether progress toward peace in this conflict is possible.
Peace efforts have stalled due to Washington’s war with Iran, while Moscow and Kyiv have intensified long-range attacks, causing civilian casualties to rise to levels unseen since the start of hostilities.
“I sent Witkoff and Kushner, two great negotiators. They did a great job, and we sent them to see if they can achieve something. We might have a good chance to do so,” Trump said.
“They are bringing with them a proposal to end the war,” he said.
The US president did not reveal whether this plan involves ceding Ukrainian territories, as he had hinted earlier, but added: “We have an idea for peace.”
Read more How long to bake salmon in the oven? It is important to know to keep it juicy
Witkoff and Kushner, who participated in ceasefire negotiations in Gaza and Iran, have visited Moscow several times before.
Exhausting war
The new diplomatic push comes as Russia and Ukraine shell each other with long-range missiles and drones.
Just hours before Trump’s announcement, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) in central Kyiv, Zelensky said.
This strike, which Zelensky said targeted the office of the service’s acting head, was the first attack on its headquarters since the invasion began.
Despite the unprecedented nature of this strike, the Ukrainian president proposed a ceasefire with Russia during the US envoys’ visit.
“From our side, there will be no air strikes, and Russia must ensure mutual ceasefires – without any of its own air strikes – for as long as these negotiations take,” he said in his evening address.
Russia did not comment on this proposal.
Hours later, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, Oleksandr Hanža, reported that four people were killed and five injured in a Russian strike in the city of Kamianske in the southeast of the country.
On Wednesday, Zelensky stated that Russian airspace would be “completely unsafe” and full of Ukrainian drones as long as Moscow continues its war.
On Saturday, he said Ukraine would “adjust” its air operations to ensure that “there are no threats to diplomacy from our side.”
The trip by Witkoff and Kushner comes more than a week after a rare visit by CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Moscow, during which, according to US media, he warned Russia against any attack on NATO member states.
Earlier this week, the US hosted Russia’s finance minister at the G20 meeting in North Carolina.
Read more «Russia will come up with something new»: expert warned Ukraine about changes on the front
