Russian forces struck targets across Ukraine overnight, including residential areas of Kyiv and port infrastructure in the Odesa region, one day after Vladimir Putin met US special envoy Steve Witkoff, according to RTVE.es. Ukrainian officials said missiles hit the capital in the early hours of Thursday, injuring at least 15 people. Ukraine also carried out drone attacks on Russian territory and on Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine.
The timing drew a sharp response from Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sibiha, who argued that diplomatic flattery will not end the war. "Appeasement, servility and flattery will not stop this war. Only force will," he wrote on social media, as cited by RTVE.es. He also said Kyiv residents had heard overnight what Russian "humanism" actually sounds like — a reference to Witkoff's earlier praise of Putin's supposedly humanitarian character for releasing an American who had been held in Russia for four years.
Why it matters
The strikes came hours after Wednesday's meeting between Putin and Witkoff, which RTVE.es describes as a sign of Washington's renewed outreach to Moscow. Putin indicated he was open to a three-way summit with Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November, and Trump said the war was closer to ending. The overnight attacks underline how far apart those diplomatic signals and conditions on the ground remain.
Damage reported across several regions
According to Reuters, cited by RTVE.es, Russian missiles reached Kyiv during the night and wounded at least 15 people. Other regions were also hit. In the Kharkiv region, a woman was injured, and energy infrastructure was struck in the city of Kremenchuk in the Poltava region.
Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces targeted port infrastructure in the Odesa region on the Black Sea as well as vessels used by the Ukrainian military, RTVE.es reports. ABC reported that Ukraine has denounced repeated Russian attacks on infrastructure, shops and homes, while La Vanguardia reported that the strikes have hit Ukraine's electricity system and logistics hubs.
El Confidencial reported at least three people killed in the Kyiv region when Russia attacked a factory. El Mundo, meanwhile, carried testimony from Spanish-language students in Kyiv who described studying under bombardment, with one saying they no longer fear drones.
Drone attacks on Russia and occupied territory
Ukraine's overnight drone campaign reached Moscow, where two people were injured in an attack involving at least 630 drones, according to RTVE.es. In Lipetsk, a city about 400 kilometres south of Moscow that hosts a large steel plant, a man was injured and drones hit an apartment building and a medical centre, the regional governor said.
The Russian-installed management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which sits in south-eastern Ukraine under Russian control, said a driver at the facility died after two days of Ukrainian drone attacks. In a message on Telegram, plant officials said buses carrying staff had been hit on two consecutive days, which they said showed the strikes were deliberate. RTVE.es notes that Moscow has repeatedly accused Ukraine in recent months of targeting the complex's infrastructure and services, including transport for its workers.
Russian forces seized the plant, Europe's largest with six reactors, in the first weeks of the February 2022 invasion. Since then, Moscow and Kyiv have regularly accused each other of military activity in the area that endangers nuclear safety.
What to watch
Whether the November trilateral summit Putin floated actually takes shape — and whether the pace of strikes on both sides changes in the weeks before it.
