Russia bombards Kyiv hours after agreeing to resume talks

Russia launched a massive missile attack on Kyiv overnight, just hours after Vladimir Putin said he had agreed in principle to resume three-way peace talks following a meeting with the US envoy Steve Witkoff.

At least two people were killed and 22 injured, including four children, as ballistic missiles struck the Ukrainian capital. Targets included the southern bridge over the Dnipro River, homes, energy infrastructure, an ambulance station, office buildings and a clinic.

Cluster warheads

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said three of the missiles carried cluster warheads. One struck the Pecherskyi district, damaging several historic buildings, including a monastery.

"This is another extraordinarily revealing strike, revealing because it was no accident," he said. "The choice of weapon was deliberate; the choice of target area was deliberate, and so was the intent to inflict as much loss and damage on civilians as possible."

He said the attack showed Russia was not serious about peace. "Almost immediately after another round of talks, Russia launched a pointed attack. This means there has been no real change in its attitude."

"You are a humanitarian also, sir"

At talks in St Petersburg on Wednesday, Mr Witkoff had lavished praise on the Russian president. "You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that," he told Mr Putin.

Mr Zelenskyy replied sardonically on social media after the strikes: "Three waves of ballistic missiles have been launched at Kyiv by Russian 'humanitarians' since yesterday evening. They used 21 missiles."

Downing Street said it did not recognise Mr Witkoff's description of Mr Putin, pointing out that the Russian president had been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Ukrainians. Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said "appeasement, servility and flattery" would not stop Russian aggression.

Talks after the US midterms

The Kremlin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Mr Putin had agreed "in principle" to resume talks involving Russia, the US and Ukraine after 10 November, a week after the US midterm elections. Officials in Kyiv believe Russia's real aim is to destroy Ukraine's energy system in the coming weeks, leaving millions in the cold and dark as winter arrives.

Mr Zelenskyy called for stronger air defences, more Patriot interceptor missiles and further sanctions on Moscow.

A row over satellites

The attack came amid the most serious rift between Washington and Kyiv since Russia's full-scale invasion nearly five years ago. It began when Donald Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel to bring down US fuel prices, a move Mr Zelenskyy called "weak". Last week, a slowdown in Starshield, the military version of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system, left Ukraine struggling to fly drones, with the commander of one air defence unit in Kyiv saying he felt betrayed.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Mr Trump had since called Mr Musk to ask him to reverse the slowdown, though Ukrainian officials were divided over whether the service had improved.

Russia said it had shot down hundreds of Ukrainian drones overnight, and one man was killed in a Ukrainian strike on the Belgorod region, according to local officials.