Russia Fires 21 Missiles at Kyiv After Peace Talks, Zelensky Says
Russia launched 21 missiles at Kyiv in three waves overnight on October 22, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Telegram post, shortly after a round of talks with the US special envoy about peace and negotiations.
“Three waves of ballistic strikes were launched by the Russian ‘humanists’ at Kyiv since the evening. They used 21 missiles. Unfortunately, there are a significant number of hits and damage in the city: ordinary residential buildings, energy facilities, the infrastructure of one of the railway stations and the metro, shopping centres, enterprises. Even a monastery was among the damaged sites,” Zelensky wrote.
Casualties across 12 regions
According to the president, Russian strikes hit 12 regions overnight. In Kyiv and the regions, 34 people were wounded, including five children, and two deaths were confirmed at the time of his statement.
Zelensky called the strike a demonstrative one. “Right after the latest talks, Russia carried out a demonstrative strike. It means there are no real changes in its attitude to everything that is happening. It is important to keep trying to find the right solutions to end this war. But when Russian ballistic missiles are the answer to negotiations, real pressure on Russia is needed,” he said.
What the Air Force reported
Ukraine’s Air Force said the attack began at 18:00 on October 21. Russia launched Iskander-M, S-400, Zircon and Onyx missiles from the Kursk, Bryansk and Rostov regions, along with 210 Shahed-type and other drones, concentrating the main blow on Kyiv. By 09:00, air defence had shot down or suppressed 181 drones. Missile and drone strikes were recorded at 32 locations, and debris from downed targets fell at eight more.
The strike also disrupted the capital’s transport. The metro’s infrastructure on the Pivdennyi Bridge was damaged, and traffic over the bridge was temporarily closed in both directions on the morning of October 22.
Context: talks and a strike
On October 21, Donald Trump’s special representative Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg for about three hours, a day after meeting Zelensky and the leaders of Norway and Finland in Oslo. Witkoff called Putin a “humanist”, and Putin told him Moscow was ready to resume trilateral US–Ukraine–Russia talks in the second decade of November, as we reported in Putin Tells Witkoff Russia Ready to Resume Trilateral Talks in November. Earlier on October 22 we also covered the first casualty reports from the Kyiv missile attack.