Institute for the Study of War: Russian forces fortify positions in south in anticipation of Ukrainian counteroffensives

Russian attacks sparked fires in the Kyiv region overnight, but officials did not report any hits in the city of Kyiv as U.S envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are set to arrive to discuss peace talks.

Ukraine has now downed more than half a million aerial drones since the full-scale invasion began, according to the General Staff.

U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner concluded more than three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sept. 5. No immediate details on the outcome of the talks were announced.

Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in Ryazan and targeted other cities across Russia overnight on Sept. 6, monitoring channels and authorities reported.

Russia has continued arresting members of the Yabloko opposition party, detaining two candidates on Sept. 4 as parliamentary elections approach, the party announced.

According to the fund, the 58-year-old sustained blast injuries near the village of Skvortsovo in Crimea’s Simferopol district.

Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said the strike killed nearly an entire family: a 19-year-old woman, an 11-year-old boy, and a 45-year-old man.

The announcement came hours after U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner landed in Moscow for talks with Putin.

The group allegedly received systematic bribes in exchange for allowing fraudulent call centers to operate without interference. The call centers targeted both Ukrainian citizens and foreigners, investigators said.

"Deliberately, for the first time in a long while," Zelensky said, describing the strikes as a response to discussions about the possibility of U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arriving in Ukraine by plane.

An air raid alert was activated in Kyiv at around 3 p.m. local time, followed by explosions in the city center about half an hour later.

Russia attacked the city of Kamianske in the early hours of Sept. 5, killing four people and injuring five others, regional Governor Oleksandr Hanzha reported. Three of the victims have been hospitalized, with one in intensive care.

Some of the attacks came after Ukraine reportedly ordered its troops to pause hostilities for four days as U.S. envoys prepared to visit Kyiv and Moscow for talks aimed at ending the war.

The figure includes 1,260 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day, according to the General Staff.

Grain prices spiked 2.5 points in August from the previous month, partly due to "continued uncertainty surrounding Black Sea export flows," the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization reported.