Russian forces bombarded Kyiv with ballistic missiles during an hourslong nighttime barrage on Thursday. The attacks struck the capital in three separate waves involving 21 missiles, while officials reported that at least four people were killed across Ukraine and dozens wounded.
The large-scale assault began only hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in principle on Wednesday to resume three-way negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States. Putin gave his consent during talks in St. Petersburg with US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff. Witkoff had spoken of a new momentum toward peace after meeting Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Norway. No date was set for the tripartite talks.
Residential buildings, energy facilities, railway and metro infrastructure, shopping malls, businesses, and a monastery were damaged in Kyiv. Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Zelensky, said a Russian ballistic missile carrying cluster munitions targeted downtown Kyiv. Another official report stated that at least one person was killed and 22 injured after Russian forces dropped cluster warheads on the capital, destroying a shopping center and damaging medical facilities and residential buildings across six districts.
Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, said two women aged 50 and 60 were killed and dozens wounded in a Russian strike on a market in Lozova. The State Emergency Service reported that another person was killed in separate strikes on the Kharkiv region. Zelensky stated on social media that Russian aerial attacks hit 12 regions of Ukraine overnight.
Zelensky condemned the timing of the bombardment. He said on social media that almost immediately after another round of talks, Russia launched a pointed attack, showing no real change in its attitude toward the war. Zelensky has pleaded with Washington to supply more Patriot air defense ammunition and to impose heavier sanctions on Russia.
The Russian military claimed Thursday that its air defenses intercepted over 800 drones fired by Ukraine at Moscow and other cities. Russia’s Defense Ministry stated that air defenses downed 808 Ukrainian drones overnight, leaving two people wounded. Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that 630 of those drones were directed toward the Russian capital between late Wednesday and Thursday.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin had received an invitation to attend the G20 summit in Miami in December but had not yet decided whether to attend. Peskov claimed the American administration is doing a lot to help a peaceful settlement, while alleging that European capitals are doing nothing to promote peace and are provoking further escalation.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha responded to the strikes on social media. He stated that the latest attacks demonstrate what Russian humanism truly sounds like, adding that appeasement, servility, and flattery will not stop the conflict.
