Strikes on the capital follow talk of renewed negotiations
Kyiv was struck by a new round of missile fire only hours after Russia indicated it would return to peace talks on Wednesday, the BBC reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack came in three waves of missiles, and he characterized them as the work of Russian humanitarians. The strikes landed the same day that Washington's envoy, Steve Witkoff, had used that same word about Russia's president.[S1][S2][S4][S5][S7]
The Russian side said it was ready in principle to restart negotiations with both the United States and Ukraine. That statement, reported by the BBC, came after Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday. Reporting from the site of a destroyed retail park in the capital was provided by the BBC's Dan Johnson.[S1]
A phrase that traveled from a meeting to a missile attack
The word humanitarian linked the diplomacy and the violence of the same day. Witkoff applied it to Putin following their meeting in St Petersburg, and Zelensky then turned it back on Moscow when he described the three waves of missiles launched at his country's capital. The exchange of language underlined how quickly the day's events moved from a possible opening toward talks to another assault on Kyiv.[S1]
Both sides report deadly exchanges as Washington pushes a restart
Coverage of the same events described deadly strikes traded by Ukraine and Russia while the US tried to reboot the peace process, and reported that Russia pounded the Ukrainian capital with missiles and drones hours after agreeing to talks. Other outlets likewise reported missile and drone attacks on Kyiv in the hours following the agreement to resume negotiations.[S3][S5][S6][S7][S8]
