Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky with Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff (L) and Jared Kushner (R), Kyiv, September 6, 2026
Tuesday-Wednesday Coverage: 33+ Civilians Murdered in Russian Bombing of Aid Center and Shelter
UPDATE 1000 GMT:
The toll has risen to 42 murdered from Monday’s Russian strike on an aid center and shelter in Komyshuvakha in the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine.
Up to 33 people may still be trapped under rubble.
UPDATE 0933 GMT:
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky reports on his visit to Spain’s capital on Wednesday:
Important meetings and talks coming up in Madrid. Our top priority is strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses, protecting our people, and expanding defense cooperation and production. We are grateful to Spain for the assistance provided. Further support steps are being prepared.
Contacts with the American side are also on the agenda these days. We are coordinating with our partners to achieve concrete results on security issues and the next steps toward peace.
We need protection from Russian strikes and the restoration of peace. I thank everyone who is helping Ukraine.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 4, 2026
UPDATE 0927 GMT:
Ukraine’s security services have dismissed two senior officials amid an anti-corruption probe of bogus call centres.
The SBU, Ukraine’s internal security service, said it was “providing full support” for the “transparent, objective, and impartial” probe by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke by phone with Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Wednesday, ahead of next week’s anticipated Ukraine-Russia talks with US involvement.
Zelensky said the the 90-minute conversation was “very detailed” but went no further. Instead, he focused on a “substantive meeting in Brussels involving our team, teams from America, the EU, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, NATO, the World Bank, and representatives of the global business community”.
The meeting focused on postwar recovery. There will be another meeting in Brussels tomorrow on security guarantees for Ukraine. The negotiations must move forward at full throttle to bring this war to an end as quickly as possible. Ukraine is ready to take the necessary steps. Our proposals are clear, and we have given them to the American side.
The President said air defense, with Ukraine’s need for Patriot interceptors, was also discussed: “Peace has no alternative, and postwar security guarantees must be truly cast-iron.”
Real estate developer Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Kushner, who have been discussing tens of billions of dollars of business deals with the Kremlin, made no public comment.
Ukraine and Russia Use Melania in Approaches to Trump Camp
Zelensky awarded a Melania Trump a national honor for her purported role in arranging a local ceasefire allowing the evacuation of several hundred civilians from the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine.
Zelensky decreed the award of the Order of Princess Olga for her “significant personal contribution to humanitarian support for Ukraine, and for active human rights and charitable work”.
Trump’s actual role was reportedly marginal, with the catalyst being Pope Leo XIV’s call for the evacuation of around 2,000 civilians trapped by the Russians. However, both Kyiv and Moscow are trying to curry favor by praising the US First Lady.
She is reportedly hosting Ukrainian and Russian officials in Washington on Thursday.
Russia is sending Vladimir Putin’s senior financial adivsor Kirill Dmitriev — the Kremlin’s chief manipulator of Witkoff since early 2025 — and human rights ombudsman Yana Lantratova, providing “all logistical arrangements work out”. Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said he will see Trump.
