Russia and Ukraine have unleashed some of their heaviest strikes in weeks against each other, with Russia firing 21 ballistic missiles at Ukrainian cities and Ukraine launching 630 drones toward Moscow overnight on Friday, even as diplomatic efforts to restart ceasefire negotiations gather cautious momentum.
Waves of Missiles and Mass Drone Launches
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Russian forces launched three separate waves of ballistic missiles targeting Kyiv, with a total of 21 missiles fired since Thursday evening. Writing on social media, he described the attackers sarcastically as Russian "humanitarians" and said numerous sites across the capital were hit and damaged.
Of particular concern, three of the missiles carried cluster munitions, sometimes called "bomblets," which scatter over a wide area and are prohibited by many countries due to the severe risk they pose to civilians. Russia's defence ministry did not respond to requests for comment on the strikes.
Zelenskyy said two people were killed and 34 others injured, including five children, across a dozen Ukrainian regions. Regional officials reported that a Russian strike on a market in Lozova, a town near the northeastern city of Kharkiv, was among the deadliest single incidents, killing two people and wounding 36. A further fatality was recorded in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region.
Russia also said it conducted what it described as a "massive strike" overnight on port infrastructure in Ukraine's Odesa region, targeting facilities and vessels used by Ukrainian military forces.
In a pattern of large-scale overnight attacks on Kyiv that has become familiar over recent months, Ukrainian drone crews responded in kind. Russia said Ukraine launched 630 drones toward Moscow during the night. Moscow's mayor confirmed that two people were wounded near the capital, though he said most of the drones were intercepted and shot down at long range. In the Russian border region of Belgorod, one man was killed and another wounded by Ukrainian drone strikes, according to local officials.
Exchange of War Dead Signals Diplomatic Opening
Alongside the fighting, both sides conducted a significant exchange of the bodies of fallen soldiers. Russia handed over 252 bodies to Ukraine, while Ukraine returned 25 to Russia, according to Belarusian state media. Such exchanges have historically accompanied or preceded moves toward formal peace negotiations.
The swap came as the United States renewed pressure on both sides to return to the table. On Thursday, Russia signalled it was prepared to resume US-mediated talks with Ukraine as early as next month, following a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg. Zelenskyy expressed hope that negotiations, which would be the first since February, could begin in early November.
Witkoff described a sense of "some degree of momentum" following earlier meetings with Zelenskyy and European and NATO officials in Oslo. However, Russian officials moved quickly to temper expectations. Senior Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the Oslo discussions had surfaced "new nuances" that did not entirely satisfy Moscow's position.
A senior Russian official familiar with the Putin-Witkoff meeting described it as relatively brief and not substantive in nature. According to one source close to the Russian side, the US brought a set of proposals to Putin for review, including a scenario under which Ukraine would cede the entire Donbas region to Russia in exchange for a future NATO security guarantee. Russia has consistently demanded that Ukraine surrender more territory, limit its military and be permanently barred from joining any alliance, conditions Ukraine has rejected as tantamount to capitulation.
For background on the full history of Peace negotiations in the Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present), the conflict remains the deadliest in Europe since the Second World War.
What Comes Next
With both sides escalating on the battlefield while signalling a tentative openness to diplomacy, the coming weeks will be critical. Any formal resumption of talks would mark a significant shift after months of stalemate, though Friday's strikes underscored how far apart the two sides remain on the ground and at the negotiating table.
