Russian missiles pound Kyiv as Moscow says over 800 Ukrainian drones downed

Russia bombarded Kyiv with ballistic missiles in an hourslong nighttime barrage, while the Russian military said Thursday that its air defenses intercepted over 800 drones fired by Ukraine at Moscow and other cities. Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in a massive missile attack overnight into Thursday, hours after President Vladimir Putin said the Kremlin was ready to resume trilateral peace talks next month. At the request of US special envoy Steve Witkoff during their three-hour meeting on Wednesday, Putin said he would be willing to resume talks with Ukraine and the United States after November 10.

But the latest diplomatic push – during which Witkoff controversially called Putin a “humanitarian” because he freed a detained American citizen – was followed by an attack on Ukraine involving 21 missiles and 210 drones. US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that his administration is “the closest we’ve been” to settling the war in Ukraine. The first explosions hit Kyiv three minutes before he made those comments.

The large-scale strikes killed two people and injured 34 others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday. Ukrainian officials said central Kyiv was also hit with a cluster warhead. “Russian ‘humanitarians’ have launched three waves of ballistic strikes against Kyiv since this evening,” Zelensky said.

“This means there has been no real change in its attitude toward everything that is happening. “When Russian ballistic missiles are the response to negotiations, real pressure must be applied on Russia to take other steps – steps to stop the killings,” he added, calling for a rapid delivery of air defense missiles. Firefighters try to extinguish a fire after a Russian missile attack in central Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday.

Efrem Lukatsky/AP None of the ballistic missiles that hit Kyiv were intercepted, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, which comes as the country faces a critical shortage of US-made Patriot defense missiles. Air raid sirens continued to blare in Kyiv on Thursday, with warnings of further incoming ballistic missile attacks. A separate Russian attack hit the central market in the city of Lozova, Kharkiv region, killing at least two people and injuring dozens more as they were shopping on Thursday, according to the mayor.

Meanwhile in Russia, Moscow’s mayor said that 630 drones flew toward the region overnight, in an attack that injured two people in the rural Voronovo area. Despite the positive comments on potential future negotiations, there are no indications so far that Russia has budg…