Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1608 EAT on Thursday 22 October 2026
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged a fresh barrage of attacks after a United States envoy met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg to push for renewed talks aimed at ending the war.
Russian strikes on Kyiv overnight into Thursday killed at least one person and injured 22 others, including four children, Ukraine’s national emergency service said.
Metro infrastructure was also damaged at Pivdenny Bridge, which spans the Dnipro River, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
In Russia, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said two people were injured after Ukraine launched a barrage of 630 drones at the region, including 163 directed at the capital. He said most of the drones had been intercepted.
The governor of the neighbouring Tula region said Russian air defences had destroyed 70 drones, while another man was injured in the Lipetsk region, according to its governor.
The exchange of attacks followed a meeting on Wednesday between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin at Constantine Palace in St Petersburg.
During Witkoff’s visit, Russia released Stephen Hubbard, a jailed US teacher, in what it described as a goodwill gesture. Witkoff praised Putin as a “humanitarian” following the release.
US President Donald Trump later said he believed the Russia-Ukraine war could be closer to ending than at any previous point.
The Kremlin, however, struck a more cautious tone. Moscow said it was “in principle” willing to resume US-mediated talks with Ukraine but warned that Ukrainian and European peace proposals lacked sufficient “substance”.
US President Donald Trump also delayed a new round of Russia-related sanctions, a decision he defended on Wednesday as necessary to secure the release of Hubbard.
Witkoff told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Washington was “grateful” for the diesel deal, which sparked outrage in Kyiv and across Europe.
The war, the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II, has killed tens of thousands of people since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Putin has consistently rejected face-to-face talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and maintained that Moscow intends to seize the remaining parts of eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Thursday that “appeasement” would not stop Russia’s military campaign.
“Appeasement, servility, and flattery will not stop this war,” Sybiha wrote in a post on X. “Only strength will.”
-Aljazeera
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