00:07A fragile ceasefire meant to create space for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine is now
00:13facing a major test. Just one day after U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with
00:20Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian forces
00:26reportedly launched a wave of long-range drone strikes deep inside Russia. The targets included
00:32oil refineries in Ryazan, Perm and Tatarstan, along with a drone facility in Kursk and another
00:39target in the Black Sea. The reported attacks are being viewed as a serious challenge to the
00:44temporary truce announced to facilitate negotiations aimed at ending the war. The attacks reportedly
00:51involved Ukraine's long-range AN-196 Luti drones — weapons designed to reach targets
00:57far beyond the immediate battlefield. Russian officials claimed their air defenses intercepted
01:03hundreds of drones overnight. But the scale of the reported operation shows how difficult
01:08it may be to maintain even a temporary halt in hostilities, while both sides remain capable
01:14of striking deep behind enemy lines. In Perm, officials said one drone struck a residential
01:20building instead of its intended target. One person was reportedly killed and four others injured.
01:26The incident in Perm has added a deadly dimension to the latest escalation. Russian authorities said 27
01:32drones were intercepted over the Perm region, while claiming a total of 306 drones were destroyed or
01:39intercepted across Russia during the overnight barrage. Kyiv has repeatedly targeted Russian
01:45oil facilities this year, arguing that energy infrastructure is directly linked to Moscow's ability
01:50to finance and sustain the war. The timing is what makes these latest strikes especially explosive.
01:57Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a three-day ceasefire beginning at midnight Saturday, creating a
02:03window for diplomatic efforts. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov confirmed that Russia would suspend
02:09strikes on Ukraine for three days. Ukrainian media had also reported a corresponding halt by Kyiv's
02:15forces from September 5th through September 8th, and Zelensky had publicly said Ukraine would not
02:21conduct airstrikes against Russia during the American envoy's visit, while calling on Putin to do the same,
02:26the ambush and environment by an unknown assailant. The ceasefire came as Washington stepped directly into
02:33the diplomatic effort. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner traveled to Moscow and met with Putin
02:38for more than three hours before continuing the diplomatic push with Ukraine. The American
02:44delegation was carrying a proposal aimed at ending the five-year war. The meetings were intended to
02:49move the two sides closer to a negotiated settlement, but the reported attacks on Russian energy targets
02:55threatened to shift the focus back from diplomacy to retaliation. Kyiv has framed its military actions as
03:02retaliation for Russian strikes. Zelensky has repeatedly argued that Ukraine must respond to Russian attacks
03:08and maintain pressure on Moscow. That creates a dangerous contradiction for the ceasefire. Even as
03:15negotiators attempt to build a path towards peace, military commanders on both sides remain prepared to
03:20strike. Russia says its defenses stopped hundreds of Ukrainian drones. Now the question is whether the latest
03:27escalation will remain contained or trigger another cycle of attacks. The three-day ceasefire was supposed
03:34to give diplomacy breathing room. Instead, reported strikes on Russian oil facilities have put that fragile
03:40pause under intense scrutiny. For Washington, the stakes are high. The United States is trying to turn
03:46negotiations into a concrete road map towards ending the war. But every new drone strike, every retaliation,
03:53and every civilian casualty, risks making compromise harder.
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