Hours after the Kremlin agreed in principle to resume peace talks, Russia launched one of its heaviest overnight barrages of the war — ballistic missiles in three waves at Kyiv and 210 drones across the country — killing at least nine people and wounding 56, Ukrainian authorities reported on Thursday.
Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday, October 22, that Russian attacks over the past day killed at least nine people and wounded 56 across Ukraine, with Kyiv bearing the brunt of a large-scale combined missile and drone assault. In the capital, overnight ballistic strikes hit transport and medical infrastructure in several waves, killing one person and injuring 24, including four children, according to city authorities cited by the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine's Air Force said the attack was carried out with Iskander-M, S-400, Zircon and Onyx missiles alongside 210 drones of various types, 110 of them jet-powered. Air defenses shot down 181 of the drones. Strikes were recorded at 32 locations, with debris from intercepted targets falling at eight others, the Air Force reported.
The toll stretched well beyond the capital. In Kharkiv Oblast, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported one person killed and 15 wounded, including three children, in attacks on Kharkiv city and 11 other settlements. Governor Ivan Fedorov said three people were killed and three wounded in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, where Russian forces launched 862 attacks on 48 settlements over the past day. In Donetsk Oblast, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported two killed and nine injured. The Sumy regional military administration reported one dead and four injured amid nearly 60 strikes, and in Chernihiv Oblast, Governor Viacheslav Chaus reported one person killed and one injured after drones struck an enterprise.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a statement posted on October 22, said Russia had answered the renewed push for negotiations with force: three waves of ballistic missiles — 21 missiles in all — were launched at Kyiv, hitting ordinary residential buildings, energy facilities, a railway station, the metro, shopping malls and businesses. "Even a monastery is among the damaged sites," he said. Twelve of Ukraine's regions came under attack overnight, he added.
"When Russia responds to negotiations with ballistic missiles, real pressure on Russia is needed to bring about different steps — steps toward ending the killing." — Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Zelenskyy called for stronger air defenses and the rapid delivery of missiles, the ability to destroy ballistic missile launchers, and sanctions over the war. "Almost immediately after another round of talks, Russia launched a pointed attack," he said. "This means there has been no real change in its attitude toward everything that is happening." Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha was blunter: "Appeasement, servility, and flattery will not stop this war. Only strength will."
Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces struck factories and warehouses involved in the production and storage of missiles and drones overnight, as well as transport infrastructure in Kyiv and port infrastructure in the Odesa region, according to AnewZ's live coverage. Russian officials also said some 630 Ukrainian drones were headed toward the Moscow region overnight and that most were intercepted.
The barrage came hours after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin agreed "in principle" to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States after November 10, while cautioning there was "not much substance" in Ukrainian and European proposals. Witkoff called the discussions constructive and said technical-level trilateral negotiations would continue. President Donald Trump called the meeting the closest the sides have been to ending the war, and Zelenskyy backed the talks push, saying Ukraine is in favour of organizing the meeting as soon as possible. By morning, his message was that diplomacy alone would not stop the missiles: "The aggressor deserves to be treated accordingly. Ukraine deserves support. People's lives deserve protection."