Russia drops cluster warheads on Kyiv after Witkoff-Putin peace talks

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy responded to overnight attacks on Kyiv with a dig at US peace envoy Steve Witkoff’s comments lauding Russia’s Vladimir Putin as “a humanitarian”.

Russia and Ukraine traded heavy air strikes in the early hours of Thursday after Russian president Vladimir Putin met Witkoff in St Petersburg to discuss the resumption of peace talks.

Russia unleashed a barrage of more than 20 missiles on Kyiv overnight that killed two people and injured more than 30, Ukrainian authorities said.

Russia also came under drone attack, with more than 600 Ukrainian drones launched towards Moscow and three people injured, according to Russian officials.

The strikes follow a renewed US diplomatic push, with Witkoff meeting Zelenskiy and several European leaders in Oslo this week.

Witkoff then headed to St Petersburg for talks on Wednesday with Putin, whom the envoy hailed as a “humanitarian”.

Witkoff and Putin discussed resuming talks with Ukraine in mid-November, and a possible leaders’ summit between China, Russia and the US in Shenzhen next month, according to Russian officials.

Russia did not commit to renewed talks, while European officials familiar with the Oslo discussions are sceptical the US diplomatic push is making headway.

On Thursday morning, Zelenskiy wrote on social media: “Three waves of ballistic missiles have been launched at Kyiv by Russian ‘humanitarians’ since yesterday evening. They used 21 missiles. Unfortunately, numerous sites across the city have been hit and damaged: ordinary residential buildings, energy facilities, infrastructure at one of the railway stations and the metro, shopping malls, and businesses.

“Even a monastery is among the damaged sites. Our emergency services are working at all the affected locations. Twelve of our regions came under Russian attack overnight.” He added: “Almost immediately after another round of talks, Russia launched a pointed attack. This means there has been no real change in its attitude toward everything that is happening.”

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said the attack damaged an ambulance station as well as metro infrastructure near the city’s South Bridge, a key thoroughfare over the Dnipro river.

Authorities recorded damage across six districts. A shopping centre in the Obolonskyi district was also heavily damaged in the attack.

“Overnight, Kyiv residents heard what Russian ‘humanism’ truly sounds like,” Ukraine’s foreign minister Andriy Sybiha wrote on X.

“Appeasement, servility and flattery will not stop this war. Only strength will.”

Meanwhile, Russian officials said that Ukrainian drones overnight had injured three people. Moscow’s airports suspended operations for several hours overnight, and media reports said a military facility, the 75th arsenal, had been damaged. The attack was the third largest this year by the number of drones launched towards the Russian capital, according to the tallies reported by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

Zelenskiy told journalists late on Wednesday that Kyiv had “received feedback” that Ukraine, Russia and the US had agreed to revive trilateral talks, which were put on ice at the onset of the war in Iran earlier this year.

Zelenskiy said they hoped the negotiating teams would meet in early November, though no date has been confirmed.

The talks this week failed to deliver concrete progress, even as Kyiv pushed for an energy ceasefire to stop Russia from pummelling Ukrainian power plants and energy infrastructure in advance of winter. Trump has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine cease its own strikes targeting Russian refineries and oil terminals.

Ukraine’s air force said 210 long-range drones also took part in the attack on Kyiv overnight and said it had shot down 181 of the unmanned aerial vehicles.

The report did not mention any missile intercepts, highlighting Ukraine’s enduring shortage of sophisticated anti-air missiles even as Moscow expands its campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Zelenskiy complained to US senators on Monday that “the Pentagon is delaying the delivery” of crucial interceptor missiles Kyiv relies on to protect its cities against Russian ballistic missile launches.

– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026. Additional reporting: Guardian