Kyiv hit by missiles hours after Russia backs renewed talks
· BehindLines newsroom
Between Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 October, Kyiv again came under Russian missile attack. The strikes followed Moscow's announcement, only hours earlier, that it was ready “in principle” to resume three-way negotiations with Ukraine and the United States.
Successive strikes on the capital
The media reports consulted distinguish between different moments and different areas affected. They do not allow a single casualty figure for Kyiv to be established here. No number is therefore included, because each figure cannot be reliably assigned to a specific attack and location. The Guardian lists the southern bridge over the Dnipro, homes, energy facilities, an ambulance station, offices and a clinic among the sites hit.
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 21 missiles were fired in three waves, including three carrying cluster warheads. One struck the Pecherskyi district and damaged several historic buildings, including a monastery. These details come from the Ukrainian authorities; the reports consulted do not present them as independently verified.
Washington pushes for renewed diplomacy
Shortly before the strikes, US envoy Steve Witkoff had met Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg. After that meeting, Moscow said it was willing to return to three-way discussions, which the Guardian places after 10 November. The reports consulted mention neither a session scheduled for a precise date nor an agreement presented as secured.
What remains uncertain
As winter approaches, Ukrainian officials quoted by the Guardian believe Russia's main intention is to destroy the country's energy network in the coming weeks. At this stage, renewed negotiations remain an announced intention: the sources consulted give neither a firm date nor the text of an agreement. An announcement that talks will resume does not establish that a session has taken place, or that a ceasefire exists.