RUSSIA AND UKRAINE TRADE STRIKES AFTER US ENVOY MEETS PUTIN

Ukraine’s national emergency service said Russian strikes on Kyiv overnight killed at least one person and injured 22, including four children. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko gave a different injury count of 15 and said eight people needed hospital treatment. Klitschko said the strikes damaged metro infrastructure at the Pivdenny Bridge over the Dnipro River. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Ukrainian drones wounded two people in the Moscow region. The attacks followed talks on Wednesday between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg.

Sobyanin said Ukraine launched 630 drones towards the Moscow region, including 163 approaching the capital, and that Russian defences intercepted most of them. The governor of Russia’s Tula region said air defences destroyed 70 drones, while the governor of Lipetsk reported one person wounded. Ukrainian authorities reported seven further deaths from Russian attacks: one each in Sumy and Kharkiv, three in Zaporizhzhia and two in Donetsk. Ukraine’s air force warned Kyiv residents of further ballistic missiles and told them to remain in shelters. Russia released jailed US teacher Stephen Hubbard during Witkoff’s visit.

The Kremlin said it was “in principle” willing to resume US-mediated talks with Ukraine. It also said Ukrainian and European peace proposals contained little substance. US President Donald Trump said after Witkoff’s meeting that negotiations were “the closest we’ve been” to ending the war. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said “appeasement, servility and flattery” would not stop Russia’s war.