Russian strikes hit Kyiv after Witkoff meets Putin

Ukraine says ‘appeasement’ will not end war as Russian attacks kill 1, injure 22 in its capital.

Rescue workers put out a fire at a house destroyed in a Russian missile strike on Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 21, 2026 [Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo]

Russia and Ukraine have traded a new barrage of attacks after a United States envoy met Russia’s president in St Petersburg to push for renewed talks on ending the war.

Russian attacks on Kyiv overnight into Thursday killed at least one person and injured 22, including four children, Ukraine’s national emergency service said.

list 1 of 3 Russia releases American Stephen Hubbard after four years in prison

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list 3 of 3 Russia willing to resume peace talks with Ukraine, US after Witkoff visit

Metro infrastructure was also damaged at the Pivdenny Bridge, which spans the Dnipro River, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

In Russia, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said two people were wounded after Ukraine launched a barrage of 630 drones on the region, 163 of which were sent to the capital city. He said most of the drones were intercepted.

The governor of the nearby Tula region said Russian air defences destroyed 70 drones. Another man was wounded in the Lipetsk region, its governor said.

The exchange of attacks came after US special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Constantine Palace in St Petersburg on Wednesday.

During Witkoff’s visit, Russia released jailed US teacher Stephen Hubbard as a goodwill gesture, prompting the US envoy to praise Putin as a “humanitarian”.

US President Donald Trump later said he believed the Russia-Ukraine war may be as close as it’s ever been to ending.

But the Kremlin was more guarded. While it said Moscow was “in principle” willing to restart US-mediated talks with Ukraine, it warned there was little “substance” in Ukrainian and European peace proposals.

In recent days, a frustrated Trump has once again pivoted away from Ukraine and back to Putin, trumpeting what he said was a deal for heavily sanctioned Russia to sell diesel and reduce fuel prices sent soaring by the US-Israel war on Iran.

Trump also delayed a new wave of Russia-related sanctions, a decision he defended on Wednesday as necessary to secure Hubbard’s release.

Witkoff told Putin Washington was “grateful” for the diesel deal, which sparked outrage in Kyiv and across Europe.

The war, Europe’s worst since World War II, has killed tens of thousands of people since Russia’s full-scale February 2022 invasion of its neighbour.

Putin has consistently rejected face-to-face talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and insisted Moscow intends to seize the rest of eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Thursday said “appeasement” would not stop Russia’s war campaign.

“Appeasement, servility, and flattery will not stop this war,” he wrote in a post on X. “Only strength will.”

乌克兰表示，“绥靖政策”不会结束战争，此前俄罗斯袭击乌克兰首都，造成1人死亡，22人受伤。

2026年10月21日，救援人员扑灭了乌克兰基辅一处被俄罗斯导弹袭击摧毁的房屋的火灾。[Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo]

美国特使在圣彼得堡会见俄罗斯总统，敦促重启结束战争的谈判后，俄罗斯和乌克兰之间爆发了新一轮的互相攻击。

乌克兰国家紧急服务部门称，俄罗斯周四凌晨对基辅的袭击造成至少一人死亡，22人受伤，其中包括四名儿童。

列表 1/3：俄罗斯释放被监禁四年的美国人斯蒂芬·哈伯德

俄罗斯将在特朗普协议框架下向美国派遣首艘柴油油轮（共3条，此为第2条）

俄罗斯在维特科夫访问后愿意与乌克兰和美国恢复和平谈判（共3条，此为第3条）

基辅市长维塔利·克利奇科表示，横跨第聂伯河的皮夫登尼桥的地铁基础设施也遭到破坏。

俄罗斯莫斯科市长谢尔盖·索比亚宁表示，乌克兰向该地区发射了630架无人机，其中163架飞向首都莫斯科，造成两人受伤。他表示，大部分无人机已被拦截。

邻近的图拉州州长称，俄罗斯防空部队摧毁了70架无人机。利佩茨克州州长表示，另有一名男子在该地区受伤。

此前，美国特使史蒂夫·威特科夫周三在圣彼得堡君士坦丁宫会见了俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京。随后双方爆发了相互攻击。

在维特科夫访问期间，俄罗斯释放了被监禁的美国教师斯蒂芬·哈伯德，以示友好姿态，这促使这位美国特使称赞普京是一位“人道主义者”。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普后来表示，他认为俄乌战争可能比以往任何时候都更接近结束。

但克里姆林宫的态度更为谨慎。尽管它表示莫斯科“原则上”愿意重启由美国斡旋的乌克兰和谈，但同时警告称，乌克兰和欧洲提出的和平方案缺乏“实质内容”。

近日，心怀不满的特朗普再次放弃乌克兰，转而与普京谈判，并大肆宣扬他与俄罗斯达成的协议：受严厉制裁的俄罗斯将向美国出售柴油，以降低因美以对伊朗战争而飙升的燃油价格。

特朗普还推迟了新一轮与俄罗斯有关的制裁，他周三辩称，这一决定对于确保哈伯德获释是必要的。

维特科夫告诉普京，华盛顿对柴油交易“表示感谢”，这在基辅和整个欧洲引发了强烈愤慨。

这场战争是二战以来欧洲最严重的战争，自俄罗斯于 2022 年 2 月全面入侵其邻国以来，已造成数万人死亡。

普京一直拒绝与乌克兰总统泽连斯基进行面对面会谈，并坚称莫斯科打算吞并乌克兰东部剩余地区。

乌克兰外交部长安德烈·西比哈周四表示，“绥靖”政策无法阻止俄罗斯的战争行动。

他在X网站上发帖写道：“绥靖、奴颜婢膝和阿谀奉承都无法阻止这场战争，只有实力才能做到。”