Russia and Ukraine exchanged missile and drone strikes overnight, targeting critical infrastructure in Kyiv and the Moscow region as diplomatic efforts to revive peace talks continued.
Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv in multiple waves early Thursday, killing at least one person and injuring 22 others, including four children, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. The attacks damaged transport and medical infrastructure, including a paramedic station where six ambulances were wrecked, and disrupted metro services on the Southern Bridge over the Dnipro River. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said debris hit residential buildings, with some residents possibly trapped under rubble. Power and Wi-Fi outages were reported in parts of the capital .
Ukraine responded by launching around 630 drones toward Moscow, with Russian air defenses downing most at long range, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. Two people were wounded near the capital, while in Lipetsk, a city 400 km south of Moscow, drones hit apartment buildings and a medical facility, injuring one person, Governor Igor Artamonov said . Ukrainian forces also struck the 75th Arsenal near Serpukhov in the Moscow region, a facility specializing in air defense system repairs, according to open-source reports .
The strikes followed U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff’s meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin this week to mediate an end to the conflict. Zelensky said Ukraine supported a U.S. proposal for three-way talks with Russia and the United States, while the Kremlin confirmed Putin’s willingness to resume negotiations as early as next month .
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha criticized Witkoff’s description of Putin as a “humanitarian” after the overnight strikes, writing on X: “Overnight, Kyiv residents heard what Russian ‘humanism’ truly sounds like: a brutal attack with dozens of ballistic missiles striking energy infrastructure, medical facilities, shopping centres, and residential areas” .
