Live: Russia pummels Kyiv after three-day halt

US negotiators see Russian ‘willingness’ for Ukraine talks, says France

US negotiators told European representatives during talks in Kyiv at the weekend that Russia was showing a “new willingness” to negotiate over the Ukraine war, the French presidency said Monday.

The assessment came after US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv in a bid to revive diplomacy aimed at ending the four-and-a-half-year war.

“The Americans told us that there was a new willingness on the part of Russia to negotiate following the Duma elections, and we should prepare for a fresh start to the negotiations”, an aide to President Emmanuel Macron told journalists.

Russia to strip contract soldiers of one-off payment if laws violated at home

⁠Russia’s defence ministry ⁠wants to claim back ​part of a one-off payout from contract service personnel found ​guilty of criminal offences at home, a document showed, amid increasing cases of domestic violence among those fighting Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Russia provides ​a minimum ‌one-off payment of 400,000 roubles ($4,640) for ⁠soldiers signing at least a one-year contract to fight in the war with Ukraine ‌that Moscow calls “a special military operation”. Russia invaded Ukraine in ⁠February 2022.

In practice, one-off payouts may reach a few million roubles per soldier, depending on the region, in ​addition to a monthly salary. Russia is also reducing ‌sentences for those serving time in prison in exchange for signing up for the war, among other benefits, as it seeks to ‌bolster army numbers.

Angelina Jolie visits boxing club in Ukraine’s northeast

Hollywood star and humanitarian Angelina Jolie made a surprise visit to a boxing club in the heavily-shelled Ukrainian city of Kharkiv during her latest trip to the country, the country’s boxing federation and the club’s owner said Monday.

The film star, who in the past served as a UN special envoy for refugees, had visited the war-torn country at least twice since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

A photo posted by the Boxing Federation of Ukraine shows Jolie and her son, Knox, posing at a boxing gym.

“The famous actress Angelina Jolie visited the Spadkoyemets boxing club in Kharkiv,” the federation said in a post on Instagram.

“Her son Knox, together with Ukrainian defenders, held a Muay Thai training session at the club,” it added.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general submits resignation citing political conflict

Ukraine’s prosecutor general ⁠said on Monday ​he had offered his resignation citing political reasons, in the latest ​sign of disunity in the senior ranks of the Ukrainian ruling elite.

“This is a political decision, and I have made it consciously. I ​do ‌not want the position of Prosecutor General ⁠to be used as an instrument of political confrontation,” Ruslan Kravchenko said in a ‌statement on Telegram late on Monday, without elaborating.

Kravchenko thanked President ⁠Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, and asked them to accept his resignation.

Drones hit civilian infrastructure in Russia’s Saratov, governor says

A ⁠Ukraine ​drone attack ​has hit civilian infrastructure in the Russian ​city ‌of ⁠Saratov on the Volga ‌river and injured some ⁠people, regional governor Roman Busargin ​said on ‌the Telegram messaging app on ‌Tuesday.

The Saratov region ​is home to a large oil refinery ​run by state ​oil company ​Rosneft, as well ​as a number of

other industrial and military ⁠facilities.

Series of explosions heard in Kyiv

A series of “strong” explosions rang out in Kyiv, AFP journalists said early Tuesday, as Russia resumed strikes on the Ukrainian capital after a three-day halt.

The explosions triggered car alarms in the city centre, the journalists said, after the Kyiv city military declared an air raid alert.

Russia resumes strikes on Kyiv after three-day halt

Russia resumed strikes on Kyiv after the expiration of a three-day halt in attacks for a visit to the Ukrainian capital by US envoys, Ukraine’s emergency service said late Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the three-day halt in Moscow’s strikes on Kyiv as US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited the Russian and Ukrainian capitals at the weekend.

“Russians attacked Boryspil and Fastiv districts with drones,” the the State Emergency Service of Ukraine posted on Telegram.

The Kyiv city military administration said an air raid alert had been declared in the capital due to the threat of “enemy” drone attack, and urged residents to take shelter.

Russia‘s state news agency TASS confirmed earlier that the pause in strikes had expired.

Witkoff touted progress in the discussions with Ukraine and Russia, raising the prospect of reviving three-way peace talks to end the conflict.