Russia strikes Ukraine's capital despite US peace push

Russia launched a fresh wave of strikes on Kyiv early on Tuesday, hitting residential blocks and energy infrastructure in what Ukrainian officials described as one of the capital’s most intense attacks in recent weeks. The assault came as the United States and Ukraine continued talks in Geneva on a revised peace framework aimed at ending the conflict.

Kyiv mayor Vitalii Klitschko said a residential building in the central Pechersk district and another in the eastern Dniprovskyi district were badly damaged. Video posted to Telegram showed flames ripping through several floors of the nine-storey block in Dniprovskyi.

At least four people were injured, according to the head of the city administration, Tymor Tkachenko. The energy ministry later confirmed that energy infrastructure had been struck, though it did not specify the extent or nature of the damage.

The attack followed a weekend of intensive diplomacy in Geneva, where US and Ukrainian officials worked to narrow Washington’s original 28-point peace proposal. Multiple media outlets reported that the plan has now been reduced to a 19-point framework jointly drafted by the two sides.

Oleksandr Bevz, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, described the discussions as “very constructive” and said many of the most contentious provisions had been softened or reshaped to align more closely with Ukraine’s position. Bevz also suggested that Thursday’s deadline, imposed by US President Donald Trump for finalising an agreement, now appears more flexible. “It’s not a code red — it’s more important to finalise the text,” he told reporters.

Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister, told the Financial Times that the new draft bears little resemblance to the leaked 28-point version, from which “very few things are left”.

The earlier proposal had crossed several long-standing Ukrainian red lines: it envisaged ceding territory in the east, reducing Ukraine’s military capacity and renouncing NATO membership. The revised draft now leaves the thorniest political questions for Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky to resolve directly, according to multiple reports.

Sunday’s Geneva talks drew senior officials from the United States, Ukraine and key European capitals. US secretary of state Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Army secretary Daniel Driscoll attended on the American side, while Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak led the Ukrainian delegation. A joint White House statement said the discussions had made “meaningful progress toward aligning positions”.

The Kremlin, however, said it had not received any updated documents from Geneva and does not plan talks with US officials this week. Trump has maintained Thursday as the target for an understanding with Kyiv but has hinted that negotiations could continue beyond that date if momentum is maintained.

As Kyiv counted the cost of the latest bombardment, the juxtaposition of battlefield violence and diplomatic manoeuvring underlined the precariousness of the Geneva process — and the urgency felt in both capitals to shape a framework for peace before the conflict escalates further.

With agency inputs