Seven killed in Ukraine after US envoy holds talks with Putin

Overnight Attacks

Russian and Ukrainian forces traded heavy strikes overnight that left seven people dead and at least 15 wounded across Ukraine, authorities said Thursday, hours after US President Donald Trump's envoy concluded a high-level meeting with the Russian leader in Saint Petersburg. The attacks killed one man in Sumy and a woman in Kharkiv in the northeast, plus three people in southeastern Zaporizhzhia and two in Donetsk, according to officials. Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that 15 people had been wounded in the capital and metro infrastructure at the Pivdenny Bridge was damaged.

Moscow also came under massive drone assault, with Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stating that two people were wounded as Russian air defenses intercepted 163 drones approaching the capital out of 630 fired toward the region. The governor of the nearby Tula region said air defenses destroyed 70 drones, while another man was wounded in the Lipetsk region.

Diplomatic Push

Trump sought to strike an optimistic tone following envoy Steve Witkoff's three-hour meeting with Putin on Wednesday, saying negotiators were "maybe now the closest we've been" to ending the war. The Kremlin indicated through aide Yuri Ushakov that Moscow was "in principle, ready to resume" trilateral talks after the US midterm elections in mid-November, and Ushakov announced preparations for a summit between Putin, Trump and China's Xi Jinping in Shenzhen next month. Witkoff told Putin that Washington was "grateful" for a deal allowing Russia to sell diesel to the US, an arrangement that sparked outrage in Kyiv.

Prisoner Release and Sanctions

During the Saint Petersburg talks, which included Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner participating remotely, Witkoff praised Putin for releasing US citizen Stephen Hubbard, telling the Russian leader: "You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian -- you are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that." Witkoff later said the discussions were "constructive" but cautioned that "there is still important work left to do," while Trump defended his decision to delay sanctions on Russia as necessary to secure the prisoner's release. The war has killed tens of thousands since Russia's February 2022 invasion.