Budanov said the proposal was “conveyed personally to
dictator Vladimir Putin.” It called for a temporary halt to airstrikes and
fighting along the front.
“But the drones are flying — you all saw it,” Budanov said.
Budanov suggested that Russia might not strike Kyiv during
the expected Sept. 6 visit by U.S. presidential special envoys Steve Witkoff
and Jared Kushner.
Russia continued its attacks on Ukraine on Sept. 5. Five
people were confirmed dead in Kamianske in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. In Mykolaiv, two
people were injured in a strike on an Epicentr shopping center. Drone
strikes were also reported overnight in Kyiv, Poltava and Odesa oblasts and
elsewhere in Ukraine.
Sept. 5–9 ceasefire initiative
On Sept. 4, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
confirmed that U.S. presidential special envoys Steve
Witkoff and Jared Kushner would visit Ukraine on Sept. 6 after visiting
Russia on Sept. 5. Ukraine suspended long-range strikes on Russia during that
period to ensure the “normal functioning of Russian airspace,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainska Pravda reported overnight on Sept. 5 that
Ukraine’s Defense Forces had been ordered to temporarily refrain from firing
along the line of contact from 12 a.m. on Sept. 5 through 11:59 p.m. on Sept.
8. The move was a Ukrainian initiative.
RBC-Ukraine reported that Ukraine was awaiting Russia’s
response to a proposal for a temporary halt to airstrikes. The U.S. side was
expected to discuss the proposal separately with Moscow amid media reports
about Witkoff and Kushner’s concerns for their safety while in Ukraine.
On Sept. 5, Ukraine’s General Staff said fighting along the
front was continuing. Russia had rejected the idea of a ceasefire.