Russia strikes a dozen Ukrainian regions, including Kyiv, after Witkoff meets Putin

Russia struck a dozen Ukrainian regions overnight, including the capital, Kyiv. It fired ballistic missiles at Ukraine shortly after US envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss resuming peace talks.

The outlets give different casualty figures. France 24, citing Kyiv city authorities, reports two people killed and more than 30 wounded in Kyiv. The South China Morning Post, citing Zelensky, reports that the overnight attacks on a dozen regions, including Kyiv, killed at least two people and wounded 34, including children.

In Kyiv, homes, energy sites, commercial premises and a monastery were damaged. Russian strikes on the capital have intensified ahead of winter.

According to France 24, air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv through the night and into the day. France 24 also reported that two women, aged 50 and 60, were killed in an attack on a crowded market in the eastern city of Lozova. It said families and children were told to leave the frontline towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. Separately, it reported two people wounded in the Moscow region after a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack.

The Kremlin said it was willing to restart trilateral talks with Kyiv and Washington next month. It dismissed new ideas Witkoff brought, which were developed with European countries and Ukraine. The South China Morning Post said the Kremlin described them as lacking substance. The reports do not describe the proposals or give a date or venue for talks.

According to France 24, Witkoff and Putin talked for hours in Saint Petersburg. France 24 also reported that, in recent days, US President Donald Trump blocked new sanctions on Russia, struck a deal to buy Russian diesel and called for Zelensky to be replaced.

What each side says

• Zelensky said on Thursday the strikes showed Moscow's position had not changed. France 24 quoted him as saying: "This means there has been no real change in its attitude towards everything that is happening." He said Russia was "clearly taking advantage of the slowdown in air-defence supplies from our partners". He accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians in Kyiv, including with cluster munitions. The reports do not include independent verification of this, or any Russian official comment on the strikes.
• Russia demands, according to France 24, that Ukraine withdraw from the part of Donetsk it still controls and accept limits on its army and Western alliances.
• Ukraine rejects these demands as capitulation but backs resuming trilateral talks.
• Witkoff called his talks with Putin "constructive" but said "there is still important work left to do", according to France 24.
• Trump said on Wednesday negotiators were "maybe now the closest we've been" to ending the war, France 24 reported.
• Moscow says a Trump–Putin–Xi Jinping summit is being prepared in China. The reports do not include confirmation from Washington or Beijing.

Analysis

The strikes and the Kremlin's offer of talks point in different directions. Two readings are possible. Moscow may be using military pressure to strengthen its negotiating position. Or the diplomatic track may be separate from decisions on the battlefield. Much depends on details the reports do not include: the content of the Witkoff proposals, the date of any talks, and whether the summit Moscow describes takes place. Debate over air-defence supplies and sanctions policy may also shape what happens next. Several rounds of talks over the past 18 months produced no deal, France 24 reported.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.