Nato fighter jets were scrambled overnight after Russia launched a wave of missile and drone strikes against Kyiv, killing at least two people and wounding seven, in an attack that appeared to bring a three-day ceasefire to an abrupt end.
The strikes came as US peace negotiators were visiting the Ukrainian capital and cast fresh doubt on claims from Donald Trump’s envoys that Vladimir Putin was “ready to negotiate” and “ready to discuss” proposals aimed at restarting peace talks.
Russia deployed waves of drones followed by strategic Tu-95MS and Tu-160 bombers in the overnight assault, with Ukrainian officials reporting extensive damage to residential and civilian infrastructure.
The upper floors of a 26-storey apartment block in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district were hit, while 10 residents became trapped in a five-storey building in the Solomianskyi district.
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A major fire also broke out at a food packaging and processing plant in northern Kyiv following Russian Iskander-M/Kn-23 ballistic missile strikes.
Moscow said its forces had targeted stockpiles of cruise missiles and drones in Kyiv and the surrounding region, as well as the port of Chornomorsk.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the scale and composition of the attack indicated that Russia had deliberately sought to inflict maximum damage.
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.
There is significant damage to residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure in the capital.”
Kyiv. This is how russian ballistic missiles rained down on the capital today — a city of more than 3 million people.
russia is a terrorist state.
Enough pretending you don’t see it. pic.twitter.com/3kAFBrOUb9
— UAVoyager🇺🇦 (@CrimeanVoyager) September 8, 2026
The intensity of the assault also prompted Poland, a Nato member bordering Ukraine, to scramble fighter aircraft as a precautionary measure.
Poland’s Operational Command said the move was in response to the activity of Russian long-range aviation conducting strikes against Ukrainian territory.
Due to the activity of long-range Russian air forces conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory, military aviation has begun operating in Polish airspace.
“Ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached a state of readiness.
These operations are preventative in nature and are aimed at securing and protecting airspace, particularly in areas adjacent to the threatened areas.
In Kyiv and the region, as well as in many other regions, efforts to deal with the aftermath of the Russian strike have been underway since last night. It was a complex attack that the Russians tried to plan to cause as much harm to life as possible – ballistic missiles, cruise… pic.twitter.com/A6QNY51ltd
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 8, 2026
The overnight strikes underline the difficulty facing diplomatic efforts to establish a durable ceasefire. The attacks followed a three-day pause that had coincided with the presence of US negotiators in Kyiv and renewed expectations that Moscow could be brought back to formal negotiations.
The contrast between the diplomatic messaging from Washington and the continued Russian military campaign is likely to complicate efforts to build momentum towards a broader settlement, while the deployment of Nato aircraft highlights the continuing risk that attacks close to Ukraine’s borders could trigger wider regional tensions.
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