Russia, Ukraine trade fresh attacks hours after Witkoff-Putin talks

The latest Russia-Ukraine attacks killed seven people in Ukraine and wounded dozens, despite renewed diplomatic efforts to end the war. The overnight missile and drone strikes came hours after US envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg.

US President Donald Trump struck an optimistic tone after the meeting, saying negotiators were “maybe now the closest we’ve been” to ending the war. The Kremlin said it was open “in principle” to resuming trilateral talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States. The bombs kept falling anyway.

Russia-Ukraine attacks: deadly night in Ukraine

In Ukraine, the attacks killed one man in Sumy and a woman in Kharkiv, both in the northeast. Three more people died in southeastern Zaporizhzhia and two in the eastern Donetsk region, authorities said on Thursday.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said strikes wounded 15 people in the capital, eight of whom needed hospital treatment. The strikes damaged metro infrastructure at the Pivdenny Bridge, which officials said restricted traffic between parts of the city.

Ukraine’s air force warned in the early hours of “more ballistic missiles toward Kyiv” and told residents to stay in shelters. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia used three ballistic missiles with cluster warheads against Kyiv. The missiles detonate in the air and strike everything within a 400-metre radius, he said. Cluster munitions are banned by more than 100 countries.

Two women aged 50 and 60 were killed and dozens wounded in an attack on a crowded market in the eastern city of Lozova.

630 drones toward Moscow

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said two people were wounded as Russian air defences intercepted barrages of 630 drones headed toward the region, with 163 approaching the capital. The governor of the nearby Tula region said air defences destroyed 70 drones. Another man was wounded in the Lipetsk region.

The two sides also exchanged war dead. Moscow handed over 252 bodies and Ukraine handed over 25, according to Belarusian state media. Such exchanges have accompanied moves toward talks in the past.

Diplomacy and destruction

Witkoff flew to Russia from a meeting with Zelensky in Oslo on Tuesday, aimed at smoothing a bitter rift between Trump and the Ukrainian leader. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner took part in the Putin talks remotely.

The Kremlin signalled it could resume US-mediated talks as soon as next month, potentially in mid-November after the US midterm elections. But a senior Russian official briefed on the Putin-Witkoff talks described them as relatively short and not substantive.

The contrast was sharp. As diplomats spoke of momentum, air raid sirens sounded through the night in Kyiv. Ukraine said Russia fired at least 21 ballistic missiles in three waves. The strikes damaged buildings around the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Feature Pakistan earlier reported on Witkoff’s St Petersburg meeting with Putin, where Russia freed retired American teacher Stephen Hubbard as a goodwill gesture. The overnight bombardment shows how wide the gap remains between diplomatic gestures and the reality on the ground.

Frequently asked questions

How many people died in the overnight attacks?

Seven people were killed in Ukraine, in Sumy, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk. Fifteen were wounded in Kyiv. Russia reported two wounded near Moscow from Ukraine’s drone barrage.

What did the Witkoff-Putin talks achieve?

The Kremlin said it was open in principle to resuming trilateral talks with Ukraine and the US, possibly in mid-November. Trump called it the closest the sides have been to ending the war, but a Russian official described the talks as short and not substantive.

Did Ukraine use cluster munitions?

No. Zelensky accused Russia of firing three ballistic missiles carrying cluster warheads at Kyiv. Russia’s defence ministry did not respond to the claim.

When could talks resume?

The Kremlin suggested technical-level three-way talks could begin on or after November 10, possibly in Abu Dhabi.

Sources: AFP via Daily Sabah, Reuters via The Straits Times, The Express Tribune