Kyiv under ballistic attack overnight, as Moscow and Kyiv say they are ready for negotiations

On the night between Wednesday and Thursday, Russia struck Kyiv with ballistic missiles and drones, while on the diplomatic front contacts continued regarding the possible resumption of negotiations. The two developments - the attack on the Ukrainian capital and the dialogue in Saint Petersburg - unfolded in parallel, on the same day.

According to the Ukrainian agency RBC-Ukraine, the bombardment caused the death of at least one civilian and the injury of 22 people, including four children. Ukrainska Pravda reports damage to an emergency medical station in the Pecherskyi district of the capital and to metro infrastructure near the Pivdennyi Bridge, resulting in partial restrictions to city traffic. The same outlet cites the Monitor channel, according to which at least 25 missiles - including Iskander, Oniks and Zircon models - were launched at Kyiv and its suburbs over the course of the evening and night.

The attack came in the same hours in which US envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg, after separately meeting, the previous day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. A US official told Cbs News that Russians and Ukrainians have agreed to resume trilateral talks with the United States at the technical level. Kremlin officials, cited by the Russian agency Tass, indicated a possible opening toward a negotiated settlement, while warning at the same time that Kyiv’s position will worsen if the decisions deemed necessary by Moscow are not taken. On Wednesday, both Moscow and Kyiv separately stated that they are ready to resume trilateral talks with Washington.

The picture emerging from these hours is one of two tracks that do not intersect in the facts reported by the sources consulted: on one hand, diplomatic activity, with the prospect of resuming talks at the technical level between the three parties; on the other, the continuation of bombardments on civil infrastructure and the emergency response network of the Ukrainian capital. None of the available sources explicitly links the two events, and the simultaneity is simply noted here.

It remains to be seen whether the contacts initiated by Witkoff will actually lead to a three-way table at the technical level, as reported by the US official to Cbs News. For now, the only confirmed data on the night just passed is that provided by Ukrainian authorities through RBC-Ukraine: one dead and 22 injured, four of them minors, in the attack on Kyiv.

Footnote: the Tass agency, cited in this article, is a Russian state agency.