Russian strikes hit Kyiv after Witkoff meets Putin

Russia and Ukraine have traded a new barrage of attacks after a United States envoy met Russia's president in St Petersburg to push for renewed discussions on ending the war.

Key points

• The exchange of attacks came after US special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Constantine Palace in St Petersburg on Wednesday.
• The war, Europe's worst since World War II, has killed tens of thousands of individuals since Russia's full-scale February 2022 invasion of its neighbour.
• Putin has consistently rejected face-to-face discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and insisted Moscow intends to seize the rest of eastern Ukraine.
• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Thursday remarked "appeasement" would not stop Russia's war campaign.
• Russian attacks on Kyiv overnight into Thursday killed at least one person and injured 22, including four children, Ukraine's national emergency service remarked.

Metro infrastructure was additionally damaged at the Pivdenny Bridge. It spans the Dnipro River, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko stated.

In Russia, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin remarked two residents were wounded after Ukraine introduced a barrage of 630 drones on the region, 163 of which were sent to the capital city. He remarked most of the drones were intercepted.

In practice, the governor of the nearby Tula region remarked Russian air defences destroyed 70 drones. Another man was wounded in the Lipetsk region, its governor remarked.

Notably, the exchange of attacks came after US special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Constantine Palace in St Petersburg on Wednesday.

During Witkoff's visit, Russia published jailed US teacher Stephen Hubbard as a goodwill gesture, prompting the US envoy to praise Putin as a "humanitarian".

US President Donald Trump afterwards stated he believed the Russia-Ukraine war may be as close as it's ever been to ending.

But the Kremlin was more guarded. While it remarked Moscow was "in principle" willing to restart US-mediated negotiations with Ukraine, it cautioned there was little "substance" in Ukrainian and European peace proposals.

In recent days, a frustrated Trump has once again pivoted away from Ukraine and back to Putin, trumpeting what he remarked was a agreement for heavily sanctioned Russia to sell diesel and reduce fuel rates sent soaring by the US-Israel war on Iran.

Trump additionally delayed a new wave of Russia-related sanctions, a decision he defended on Wednesday as necessary to secure Hubbard's release.

Witkoff informed Putin Washington was "grateful" for the diesel agreement. It sparked outrage in Kyiv and throughout Europe.

For context, the war, Europe's worst since World War II, has killed tens of thousands of individuals since Russia's full-scale February 2022 invasion of its neighbour.

"Appeasement, servility, and flattery will not stop this war, " he wrote in a post on X. "Only strength will."

In short, russian strikes hit Kyiv after Witkoff meets Putin is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.