Zelenskyy: Russia struck Kyiv with 21 missiles after peace talks

Russia attacked Kyiv with 21 missiles shortly after another round of talks, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Two people were confirmed killed in the overnight strikes, while 34 people were injured, including five children, in Kyiv and other regions.

Zelenskyy said three waves of ballistic missiles were launched at the capital. Residential buildings, energy facilities, railway-station and metro infrastructure, shopping malls, businesses and a monastery were damaged.

He said Russian strikes affected 12 oblasts overnight.

Strike followed talks on negotiations

Zelenskyy described the attack as “pointed” and said Russia’s attitude toward the war had not changed after the latest talks. He called for real pressure on Moscow, saying Russia was responding to negotiations with ballistic missiles.

On 21 October, US special representative Steve Witkoff met Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg. The meeting lasted about three hours.

The meeting in Russia came a day after Witkoff met Zelenskyy and the leaders of Norway and Finland in Oslo. During the 21 October meeting, Witkoff called Putin a “humanitarian”, while Putin said Moscow was ready to resume trilateral talks in the Ukraine-US-Russia format in mid-November.