Putin orders 72-hour pause in Kyiv strikes as US envoys visit
U.S. envoys are trying to revive a stalled push to end Russia's invasion.
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envoys → order → invasion
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 72-hour pause in strikes on Kyiv, the Kremlin said Saturday, as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow to try to revive a stalled push to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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envoys → order → Ukraine
“Putin has ordered that no strikes be carried out against Kyiv for three days, starting at midnight today,” presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s Tass news agency.
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Peskov → order → agency
He said the decision was tied to preparations for Witkoff and Kushner's planned visit to the Ukrainian capital, which Kyiv has said will take place on Sunday.
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Kyiv → say → Sunday
Peskov also confirmed that Kushner and Witkoff would meet Putin during their visit, but said there was “no talk of new ideas” to end the conflict.
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Kushner → confirm → conflict
The envoys' trip comes as both sides escalate aerial attacks, some 4 1/2 years after the Kremlin's invasion of its neighbor.
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sides → come → neighbor
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that Ukraine would halt airstrikes during the envoys' visit and urged Moscow to do the same.
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Ukraine → say → same
Washington’s push to end the fighting, now in its fifth year, has lost momentum as U.S. attention has been focused for the past six months on its war with Iran.
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attention → end → Iran
The last known visit to Moscow by Witkoff and Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, was in January, when they met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.
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they → know → Kremlin
They have never previously visited Kyiv.
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They → visit → Kyiv
The envoys were met at the airport in Moscow by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, Tass reported.
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Tass → meet → Dmitriev
Dmitriev shared photos of him meeting the U.S. delegation as they disembarked, alongside the caption, “Welcome to Moscow Peacemakers.”
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they → share → Peacemakers
With peace efforts stalled, Russia has intensified its attacks on Kyiv and other cities with relentless bombardments recently stretching into daylight hours, taking advantage of Ukraine’s shortage of air defensive systems.
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Russia → stall → systems
On Friday, a Russian drone hit one of the most important government buildings in Kyiv — the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service, known as the SBU, which is one of the agencies involved in carrying out deep-strike operations inside Russia.
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which → hit → Russia
The long-range strikes by Ukraine have hit Russian military facilities, oil refineries and e-commerce hubs, seeking to undermine the Kremlin’s war effort and economy, as well as make ordinary citizens feel the consequences of the war.
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citizens → hit → war
The air war between Russia and Ukraine has intensified as troops have struggled to make progress along the 1,250-kilometer (775-mile) front line.
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troops → intensify → line
Russia has recently been using fast-flying, jet-powered drones, and the recurring wail of air-raid sirens has become part of daily life in Kyiv.
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wail → use → Kyiv
In a social media post on Saturday, Zelenskyy said that Russia had carried out overnight strikes on Kyiv and Boryspil international airports, and linked the attack to the planned U.S. visit.
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Russia → say → visit
“Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the U.S. side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine,” he said.
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he → use → Ukraine
“We have taken note of this Russian move, and next week we will adjust our operation accordingly regarding Russian airspace, which has become dangerous because of our drones and missiles in the sky.
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which → take → sky
Russian attacks killed five people and wounded five more at an industrial facility in Ukraine’s southern Dnipropetrovsk region, local military administration head Oleksandr Hanzha said.
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Hanzha → kill → region
He described those killed as employees at the site.
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He → describe → site
They were simply working their shift.
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They → work → shift
They were doing their job when enemy missiles cut off their lives,” he said.
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he → do → lives
A 62-year-old man was wounded and several homes and an apartment building were damaged in a separate attack on the region’s Nikopol district
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homes → wound → district
, Hanzha said.
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Hanzha → say → ?
In a statement Saturday, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it had carried out strikes on two metallurgical plants in the region, describing them as “major suppliers of metal products for Ukraine’s military production.
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it → say → production
”
A further two people were wounded in an overnight Russian attack on Ukraine’s Kyiv region, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the regional military administration.
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Tkachenko → wound → administration
In the Boryspil district, a fire sparked by a strike partially destroyed a nine-story residential building.
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fire → spark → building
Russian forces also repeatedly struck a shopping center in the southern Mykolaiv region with drones overnight, damaging retail premises and sparking fires, Ukraine’s state emergency services said.
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services → strike → fires
A 72-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl were hurt.
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man → hurt → ?
Emergency crews responding to the incident were repeatedly forced to withdraw to safety because of the threat of further strikes, returning whenever conditions allowed, the emergency services said.
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services → respond → strikes
Russia launched ballistic missiles from its Rostov and Voronezh regions and deployed 167 attack drones overnight, Ukraine’s air force said.
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force → launch → drones
The drones included Shahed-type aircraft — around half of them jet-powered — as well as Geran and decoy drones.
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half → include → them
Ukrainian air defenses shot down or suppressed 128 drones, according to the air force.
uncertain
defenses → shoot → force
Elsewhere, Ukrainian attacks wounded three people, including a 14-year-old girl, in Russia’s border region of Belgorod, local officials said.
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officials → wound → Belgorod
In a statement, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that its forces had shot down 53 Ukrainian drones overnight.
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forces → say → drones
The Aporia
