Missiles hit Kyiv before dawn on Tuesday, September 8, shattering a three-day ceasefire that had raised fragile hopes of a broader diplomatic breakthrough. Air defences activated across the capital as buildings were struck in the Podilskyi district, where a fire tore through a row of garages and parked cars. The blasts were also felt in Boryspil and Fastiv, two cities that lie within an hour's drive of the capital. "The threat continues.

We urge you to take shelter," Kyiv's Military Administration posted on Telegram as the attack unfolded. The ceasefire had been ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a weekend visit to Moscow and Kyiv by envoys of US President Donald Trump. That visit had been read by many analysts as a signal that Washington was pushing harder for a negotiated end to the war. Tuesday's strikes arrived before any follow-up diplomatic meeting could be scheduled, leaving the status of those talks deeply uncertain.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was expected to address the nation later in the day. The missile attack was not the only crisis to land on Kyiv on Monday night. Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko resigned after anti-corruption agencies raided his office, announcing on Telegram that he would not allow his position to become "an instrument of political confrontation." Investigators said they had uncovered a scheme in which officials allegedly shielded fraudulent call centres in exchange for bribes and laundered millions of dollars.