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
U.S. 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.
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. 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. Mr. Trump and the Ukrainian leader. Mr. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also took part in the talks with Mr. Putin remotely. Mr. Zelenskyy and insisted Moscow intends to seize the rest of east Ukraine. Mr. Witkoff briefed Mr. During their three-hour meeting, Mr. Putin for granting Mr. Mr. Discussions would continue between the U.S., Ukraine, and Russia at the technical level, he added. Mr. In recent days, a frustrated Mr. Trump has once again pivoted away from Ukraine and back to Mr. Mr. “If you would’ve put those sanctions on… you could forget about him. You’d never see him again,” Mr. In Ukraine, Mr. “The American side is proposing to organize this meeting as soon as possible. Mr. Witkoff’s ninth meeting with Mr. Putin came as Russia continued to strike Ukrainian cities ahead of winter. Trump for the Ukrainian leader to be replaced. Mr. 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.
Russian authorities also said they had intercepted drones during the night, including more than 160 flying towards Moscow. 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. Putin, who ordered the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has consistently rejected face-to-face talks with 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. 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. 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. The Witkoff-Zelenskyy meeting on Tuesday (October 20) followed days of friction between Washington and Kyiv, and calls from 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. Ukraine’s Airforce posted a warning in the early hours of “more ballistic missiles towards Kyiv” and instructed residents to stay in shelters. 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. Ushakov said 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”. 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. Witkoff said on social media that the talks with Mr. Putin were “constructive” but that “there is still important work left to do”. Putin, trumpeting what he said was a deal for Russia to sell diesel and reduce prices sent soaring by his Iran war. Trump told reporters at the White House. Zelenskyy said that Kyiv also backed resuming trilateral talks. We are in favour of it,” he told journalists. Russian occupation authorities in the Lugansk region, meanwhile, said a Ukrainian drone strike on a phone company had killed two people. 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.
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.”
