Ukraine drones hit Moscow buildings, just 4 km from Kremlin, amid US envoy’s ‘secret’ visit | World News

Russia on Friday said Ukraine targeted buildings in the Russian capital Moscow using drones for the second time, and one of them hit buildings in the central area, not far away from the Kremlin.

The two sides are escalating ariel drone attacks at a time when President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, is visiting Moscow for highly secret talks with Russian officials. His visit was part of accelerated efforts by the US to bring an end to the three-year-long war.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Friday that Russian air defences intercepted four drones, and emergency services were deployed at sites targeted by Ukrainian drones.

Also read | Russia’s Putin supports US ceasefire proposal with Ukraine with conditions

The alleged drone attacks triggered a massive fuel tank fire at Rosneft PJSC’s Tuapse oil refinery, one of the biggest in Russia, regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev said in a Telegram post.

The area of ​​the fire was more than 1,000 square meters and there were no casualties, while 121 people were fighting the blaze, according to the post cited in a Bloomberg report.

Pictures and videos posted on social media showed a damaged apartment building just two kilometres from the Foreign Ministry and four kilometres from the Kremlin, according to Bloomberg.

On Tuesday, Ukraine targeted Russia with over 337 drones, with 91 of them attacking the capital region alone.

Steve Witkoff’s visit

US envoy’s secret visit was evident as state-run Ria Novosti reported citing flight tracking data that a plane linked to him appeared to have left Moscow around 2 am. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had also confirmed that meetings with US negotiators were expected on Thursday.

Witkoff reportedly held talks with Russian officials after President Putin laid out his conditional agreement on Ukraine’s proposed 30-day ceasefire. The Russian leader stopped short of backing Kyiv’s proposals completely but said he wanted to discuss “issues” with Trump.

Also read | Ukraine’s Zelensky slams Putin after Russia President sets out ceasefire conditions, thanks Trump, Modi

Putin said, “We agree with the proposals to stop hostilities, but we start from the position that this cessation should lead to a long-term peace and eliminate the causes of this crisis. Then there arise questions over monitoring and verification” of any truce along an almost 2,000 kilometre-long front line,”

According to the Kremlin, Putin also spoke to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman by phone and discussed cooperation within OPEC and resolving the war in Ukraine.

Hectic diplomatic efforts have increased expectations for a direct phone call between Putin and Trump as former cold-war enemies move increasingly closer to resolving diplomatic issues and repairing economic ties. But the Russian president’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, said there were no plans for a phone conversation between Putin and President Donald Trump on Thursday.

Also read | Vladimir Putin likely to prolong Ukraine truce talks to negotiate better terms

Ukraine losing ground

Ceasefire efforts also come at a time when Ukraine is fast losing ground on the battlefield amid a freeze in US military aid and intelligence sharing. A US official told Bloomberg that Kyiv will be forced to withdraw fully from territory in Kursk within a week it seized in a surprise August incursion.

Ukraine only holds about 30% of the Russian land it had seized and its forces are in retreat after a rapid near-defeat in the city of Sudzha, AP reported. Zelensky hoped to use these gains as a bargaining chip when direct talks with Moscow begin.