Ukrainian firefighters work at the site of a Russian missile strike at private houses in Kyiv late on October 21, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP)
| Photo Credit:
GENYA SAVILOV
Ukrainian firefighters work at the site of a Russian missile strike at private houses in Kyiv late on October 21, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
| Photo Credit:
AFP
Missiles struck Kyiv throughout the night, authorities said early on Thursday (October 22, 2026), sending residents into shelters and wounding six shortly after Russia signaled it was ready to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump said after his envoy Steve Witkoff’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday (October 21) that it was “the closest we’ve been” to ending the war.
Mr. Witkoff praised Mr. Putin as a “humanitarian” for freeing U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard, but the Kremlin warned after the meeting in Saint Petersburg that while Moscow was “in principle” willing to restart talks there was little “substance” in Ukrainian and European peace proposals the U.S. diplomat had delivered.
Attacks did not let up overnight, with Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko posting on social media that missile strikes had wounded six people in the capital, four of whom needed hospitalisation.
Ukraine’s Airforce posted a warning in the early hours of “more ballistic missiles towards Kyiv” and instructed residents to stay in shelters.
Russian authorities also said they had intercepted drones during the night, including more than 160 flying towards Moscow.
Mr. Witkoff had flown to Russia from a meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Oslo on Tuesday (October 20), which was aimed at smoothing over a bitter rift between Mr. Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
Mr. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also took part in the talks with Mr. Putin remotely.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Russia was “in principle, ready to resume” trilateral talks in mid-November — after crucial U.S. midterm elections — and that the Kremlin wanted them to focus on post-war security.
Mr. Putin, who ordered the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has consistently rejected face-to-face talks with Mr. Zelenskyy and insisted Moscow intends to seize the rest of east Ukraine.
‘Work left to do’
Mr. Ushakov said Mr. Witkoff briefed Mr. Putin on “some new aspects in the approaches of the Europeans and Kyiv” from the Oslo meeting, adding though that “there wasn’t really much substance in them”.
A summit between Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump, and China’s Xi Jinping was also being prepared in China’s Shenzhen for next month, Mr. Ushakov said, calling it “the first such meeting in history.”
During their three-hour meeting, Mr. Witkoff praised Mr. Putin for granting Mr. Trump’s request to free Hubbard, a retired English teacher in his 70s who had always denied the charges he was a “mercenary” fighting for Ukraine.
“You talk so much about my President, President Trump, being a humanitarian — you are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that,” Mr. Witkoff said.
Mr. Witkoff said on social media that the talks with Mr. Putin were “constructive” but that “there is still important work left to do”. Discussions would continue between the U.S., Ukraine, and Russia at the technical level, he added.
Mr. Trump returned to power in January 2025 promising to end the war in 24 hours — but more than a year of U.S.-led talks have failed to produce a breakthrough, with tens of thousands killed.
In recent days, a frustrated Mr. Trump has once again pivoted away from Ukraine and back to Mr. Putin, trumpeting what he said was a deal for Russia to sell diesel and reduce prices sent soaring by his Iran war.
Mr. Trump also delayed the imposition of sanctions on Russia’s war machine — a decision he defended on Wednesday (October 20) as necessary to secure Hubbard’s release.
“If you would’ve put those sanctions on… you could forget about him. You’d never see him again,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House.
Russian strikes kill four
In Ukraine, Mr. Zelenskyy said that Kyiv also backed resuming trilateral talks.
“The American side is proposing to organize this meeting as soon as possible. We are in favour of it,” he told journalists.
Mr. Witkoff’s ninth meeting with Mr. Putin came as Russia continued to strike Ukrainian cities ahead of winter.
Kyiv said Russian attacks killed at least four people on Wednesday (October 21) — including two in the capital and an elderly couple in the eastern Kharkiv region.
Russian occupation authorities in the Lugansk region, meanwhile, said a Ukrainian drone strike on a phone company had killed two people.
The Witkoff-Zelenskyy meeting on Tuesday (October 20) followed days of friction between Washington and Kyiv, and calls from Mr. Trump for the Ukrainian leader to be replaced.
Mr. Witkoff told Mr. Putin he saw “some degree of momentum” in the U.S.-led talks.
The U.S. envoy also told Mr. Putin that Washington was “grateful” for the diesel deal, which sparked outrage in Kyiv and across Europe.
The deal has been seen as a way to try to lower fuel prices for American consumers ahead of the U.S. midterms, in which Mr. Trump’s Republicans could lose control of Congress.
Published – October 22, 2026 07:36 am IST
