Russia launched one of its heaviest attacks on Kyiv in weeks overnight into Thursday, firing 21 ballistic missiles in three waves along with 210 attack drones at the Ukrainian capital and 11 other regions — just hours after President Vladimir Putin agreed in principle to resume US-brokered peace talks with Ukraine. At least four people were killed across Ukraine and dozens were injured, according to Ukrainian officials.
File photo: Firefighters battle a blaze at a Kyiv apartment block destroyed in a Russian strike. Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine (dsns.gov.ua), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Three waves of missiles in six hours
The first explosions shook Kyiv at around 10:30 pm on Wednesday, and the barrage continued in waves until roughly 4 am, according to reporters and officials in the city. Ukraine's Air Force said Russia fired Iskander-M, S-400, Zircon and Oniks missiles alongside 210 drones — including 110 faster, jet-powered variants — launched from Russia's Kursk, Bryansk and Rostov regions. Kyiv was the main target, but 12 Ukrainian regions came under attack. The Air Force recorded direct hits at 32 locations, with debris from intercepted drones falling at eight more.
Casualties: children among the injured
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strikes on Kyiv and the regions killed two people and injured 34, including five children. In Kyiv itself, one person — a 48-year-old man — was killed in the Dniprovskyi district, where 13 private homes were destroyed, according to police and the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office, which counted 24 injured in the capital. The Associated Press later reported at least four people killed across Ukraine as regional tolls were updated, including two women killed in a strike on a market in Lozova, in the Kharkiv region, and one person killed in attacks on the Kharkiv area. Sixteen of the injured in Kyiv were hospitalised.
What was hit
Damage stretched across at least six districts of Kyiv. Zelensky said the strikes hit ordinary residential buildings, energy facilities, infrastructure at a railway station and the metro, shopping malls and businesses — and that even a monastery was among the damaged sites. A cluster-warhead missile struck central Kyiv between the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the Holy Presentation Monastery, according to the president and his adviser. In the Pecherskyi district, a strike wrecked an ambulance station and six ambulances. In Obolonskyi, a building-supplies hypermarket was destroyed and a shopping centre caught fire; in Sviatoshynskyi, a fire tore through a restaurant complex. Metro infrastructure on the Pivdennyi Bridge over the Dnipro was damaged, forcing the Green Line to run in two shortened sections. Energy and railway infrastructure were also hit, and blackouts were reported.
File photo: The Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra on fire following a Russian attack on Kyiv. Photo: Ministry of Culture of Ukraine (Mincult.gov.ua), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Air defences stopped the drones — but none of the missiles
Ukraine's Air Force said air defences destroyed or jammed 181 of the 210 drones. But not one of the ballistic missiles that reached Kyiv was intercepted — a failure Ukrainian officials and CNN linked to a critical shortage of interceptors for the US-made Patriot systems, the only Ukrainian air-defence asset able to shoot down ballistic missiles. Zelensky warned that Russia is stepping up ballistic strikes as Western interceptor deliveries slow, and said Russian forces have struck Ukrainian energy facilities more than 170 times since October 11.
File photo: A crater left on a Kyiv street after a Russian strike. Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine (dsns.gov.ua), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Zelensky: "No real change" in Russia's attitude
Zelensky mocked the timing of the attack, which began almost immediately after the talks in St. Petersburg ended. "Russian 'humanitarians' have launched three waves of ballistic strikes against Kyiv since this evening," he wrote. "This means there has been no real change in its attitude toward everything that is happening. When Russian ballistic missiles are the response to negotiations, real pressure must be applied on Russia to take other steps — steps to stop the killings." He called for stronger air defences, rapid delivery of interceptor missiles, the ability to destroy ballistic missile launchers, and tougher sanctions. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha added that only strength, not flattery, would stop the war.
Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces struck facilities in Kyiv involved in producing and storing cruise missiles and long- and medium-range drones, as well as transport infrastructure, and hit port infrastructure and vessels in the Odesa region. Moscow also said its air defences downed 808 Ukrainian drones overnight, with Mayor Sergei Sobyanin saying 630 of them were aimed at the capital region; two people were reported wounded in the village of Voronovo, and Moscow's airports temporarily restricted flights.
The peace-talks twist
The barrage came at the end of a day of unusually warm diplomacy. US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin for about three hours in St. Petersburg on Wednesday — a day after meeting Zelensky in Norway — and praised the Russian leader as a "humanitarian" after Moscow released Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired American teacher held in Russia since 2022. Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said Putin had agreed "in principle" to resume three-way talks with the United States and Ukraine after November 10, a week after the US midterm elections; the trilateral format has been paused since February. No date has been set, though Washington has proposed the United Arab Emirates as a possible venue. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that his administration is "the closest we've been" to settling the war — the first explosions hit Kyiv three minutes before he spoke, according to CNN.
Background: a war entering its fifth winter
Russia's full-scale invasion, launched in February 2022, has settled into a war of attrition along a roughly 1,250 km front line, while the air war over Ukraine's cities has intensified. In recent weeks Russia has escalated strikes on Ukraine's power grid ahead of winter — a campaign Ukrainians describe as "weaponising winter" — and ballistic missile attacks have risen sharply as Ukraine's stock of Patriot interceptors has dwindled. Ukrainians are bracing for months of blackouts and heating shortages if the energy campaign continues at this pace.
Why it matters
The strike is a stress test for the renewed diplomatic push. If talks do resume after November 10, they will open under the shadow of an attack Kyiv reads as deliberate pressure — and Washington will face fresh questions about whether praise and sanctions relief move Moscow more than interceptor missiles would. For Ukraine, the immediate lesson is military: without more Patriot ammunition, its capital remains exposed to the fastest weapons in Russia's arsenal, no matter what is agreed at the negotiating table.
FAQs
How many missiles and drones did Russia fire at Kyiv?
Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 21 ballistic missiles — in three waves against Kyiv — plus 210 attack drones across 12 regions. Air defences downed or jammed 181 drones, but none of the ballistic missiles were intercepted.
How many people were killed or injured?
Zelensky reported two killed and 34 injured, including five children, across Kyiv and the regions; the Associated Press later put the nationwide death toll at at least four as regional figures were updated. One person was killed in Kyiv itself.
Why could Ukraine not stop the ballistic missiles?
Only US-made Patriot systems can reliably intercept ballistic missiles, and Ukraine says it faces a critical shortage of Patriot interceptors as Western deliveries slow.
When will the peace talks resume?
Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said Putin agreed in principle to resume three-way Russia–Ukraine–US talks after November 10. No date or venue has been confirmed; Washington has proposed the UAE as a possible host.
Sources: Associated Press, CNN, Reuters (via citing outlets), BBC News, The Times, The Kyiv Independent, Ukrainian Air Force and State Emergency Service statements.