Russia's strikes after Alaska Summit prove Putin doesn't want peace - ISW
Photo: Putin wants to continue the war in Ukraine (Getty Images)
Recent Russian attacks show that President Vladimir Putin has no intention of stopping the war despite negotiations and US calls to do so, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, Russia has steadily increased the scale and effectiveness of its strike packages. After the Ukraine-Russia talks in Istanbul on May 15, 2025, the pace of attacks rose significantly. Since then, there have been 16 combined strikes with over 400 aerial targets.
The overnight assault of September 6-7 was the fifth attack using more than 500 drones and missiles since the US-Russia Summit in Alaska on August 15.
Putin's stance
The Russian President has repeatedly rejected attempts by Ukraine and the US to reach a battlefield truce, insisting that Russia will not agree to a ceasefire without signing a so-called peace deal. No steps have been taken to prepare Russian society or the information space for ending the war on terms other than Ukraine's capitulation.
According to a Russian military blogger on September 7, the scale of the overnight attack demonstrates Russia's "unyielding will" and shows that the Kremlin continued to "politely ignor[e]" US President Donald Trump's condemnation of the strikes. The blogger added that negotiations are turning into "empty talk."
ISW notes that Russia's strikes are increasingly hitting civilian areas disproportionately, including major cities, as part of its broader strike campaigns in recent months.
Russian Defense Ministry statements
The Russian Defense Ministry tried to deny strikes on civilian infrastructure and the Cabinet of Ministers building in Kyiv. On September 7, the Russian side claimed the attacks were aimed at drone production facilities and airbases.
Russian military bloggers echoed this version, repeating that no targets within Kyiv were hit. However, despite official denials, multiple videos, photos, and Ukrainian confirmations indicate the opposite.
On the night of September 7, Russia launched a massive strike on Ukraine, launching over 800 aerial targets, including cruise and ballistic missiles as well as drones.
In Kyiv, UAVs struck residential multi-story buildings in the Sviatoshynskyi and Darnytskyi districts, and for the first time hit the government building in the city center.
Media outlets reported that the strike on the Cabinet of Ministers may signal the "breach of the most powerful air defense zone" in Kyiv.
Other Ukrainian cities also came under attack from enemy drones and missiles, including Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, and Kremenchuk.
