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Ukraine · Survival · Catastrophic · impact 4 of 5
First reported 21 October 2026 · latest 23 October 2026 · 8 reports from 6 outlets
Part of Ukraine
One development in Russian strikes on Ukraine
Russian missiles hit Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions overnight, killing two and injuring dozens, while Ukrainian drones struck Moscow and Belgorod, causing casualties there.
Russia said Ukraine launched 630 drones towards the capital Moscow during the night. The two sides also held an exchange of war dead, with Moscow handing over 252 bodies and Ukraine handing over 25, according to the Belta state news agency in neighbouring Belarus. Such exchanges have accompanied moves towards talks in the past.
Unfortunately, numerous sites across the city have been hit and damaged." Trump envoy Witkoff praises 'humanitarian' Putin at meeting in Russia Zelenskyy said two people were killed and 34 injured, including five children, in attacks on a dozen Ukrainian regions. Ukraine said Russia fired at least 21 ballistic missiles in three waves.
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Russia s casualties suggest the effectiveness of its forces is in decline. Russian losses meaning those killed or severely wounded hovered around 30,000 a month from January to May, but steadily increased over the summer. According to Ukrainian estimates, Russia lost 46,230 soldiers in September, its highest monthly losses of the year, and 37,000 so far in October.
Russian losses meaning those killed or severely wounded hovered around 30,000 a month from January to May, but steadily increased over the summer. According to Ukrainian estimates, Russia lost 46,230 soldiers in September, its highest monthly losses of the year, and 37,000 so far in October. October 21 marked its highest daily losses of the entire war, at 2,250, said Robert Brovdi, the commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine, as his unit s kill rate had climbed to a new record.
Russian losses meaning those killed or severely wounded hovered around 30,000 a month from January to May, but steadily increased over the summer. According to Ukrainian estimates, Russia lost 46,230 soldiers in September, its highest monthly losses of the year, and 37,000 so far in October. October 21 marked its highest daily losses of the entire war, at 2,250, said Robert Brovdi, the commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine, as his unit s kill rate had climbed to a new record.
According to Ukrainian estimates, Russia lost 46,230 soldiers in September, its highest monthly losses of the year, and 37,000 so far in October. October 21 marked its highest daily losses of the entire war, at 2,250, said Robert Brovdi, the commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine, as his unit s kill rate had climbed to a new record. Overall, Ukraine estimated there were more than 350,000 Russian dead and wounded since the beginning of the year.
October 21 marked its highest daily losses of the entire war, at 2,250, said Robert Brovdi, the commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine, as his unit s kill rate had climbed to a new record. Overall, Ukraine estimated there were more than 350,000 Russian dead and wounded since the beginning of the year. Many of Ukraine s territorial gains were made by Operation Vivaldi, a Ukrainian counteroffensive that stopped a Russian pincer movement to recapture the remaining one-fifth of Ukraine s eastern Donetsk region roughly 5,500 sq km (2,000 square miles).
Zelenskyy says fresh Russian strikes show ‘no change’ in Kremlin position. Two people were killed and more than 30 others wounded in Kyiv. Photo / Henry Nicholls, POOL, AFP Ukraine has accused Russia of failing to change its position on the war, by firing a wave of ballistic missiles just after US envoy Steve Witkoff met President Vladimir Putin to discuss the resumption of peace talks.
Zelenskyy says fresh Russian strikes show ‘no change’ in Kremlin position. Two people were killed and more than 30 others wounded in Kyiv. Photo / Henry Nicholls, POOL, AFP Ukraine has accused Russia of failing to change its position on the war, by firing a wave of ballistic missiles just after US envoy Steve Witkoff met President Vladimir Putin to discuss the resumption of peace talks.
Photo / Henry Nicholls, POOL, AFP Ukraine has accused Russia of failing to change its position on the war, by firing a wave of ballistic missiles just after US envoy Steve Witkoff met President Vladimir Putin to discuss the resumption of peace talks. Air raid sirens sounded throughout the night and into the day in Kyiv, where two people were killed and more than 30 other people wounded, city authorities said. Two women aged 50 and 60 were killed and dozens more people were wounded in an attack on a crowded market in the eastern city of Lozova.
Photo / Henry Nicholls, POOL, AFP Ukraine has accused Russia of failing to change its position on the war, by firing a wave of ballistic missiles just after US envoy Steve Witkoff met President Vladimir Putin to discuss the resumption of peace talks. Air raid sirens sounded throughout the night and into the day in Kyiv, where two people were killed and more than 30 other people wounded, city authorities said. Two women aged 50 and 60 were killed and dozens more people were wounded in an attack on a crowded market in the eastern city of Lozova.
Air raid sirens sounded throughout the night and into the day in Kyiv, where two people were killed and more than 30 other people wounded, city authorities said. Two women aged 50 and 60 were killed and dozens more people were wounded in an attack on a crowded market in the eastern city of Lozova. Two were wounded in the Moscow region after Ukraine launched its own large-scale drone attack.
Air raid sirens sounded throughout the night and into the day in Kyiv, where two people were killed and more than 30 other people wounded, city authorities said. Two women aged 50 and 60 were killed and dozens more people were wounded in an attack on a crowded market in the eastern city of Lozova. Two were wounded in the Moscow region after Ukraine launched its own large-scale drone attack.
Two women aged 50 and 60 were killed and dozens more people were wounded in an attack on a crowded market in the eastern city of Lozova. Two were wounded in the Moscow region after Ukraine launched its own large-scale drone attack. The strikes came after the Kremlin said it was willing to restart trilateral talks with Kyiv and Washington next month, but dismissed new ideas brought by Witkoff that were developed with European countries and Ukraine.
In all, a dozen Ukrainian regions were hit overnight, including residential houses, energy sites, shops, cafes and a monastery damaged in Kyiv, where strikes have intensified before winter sets in. All families and children were told to evacuate the frontline towns of Kramatorsk and neighbouring Sloviansk in the east after a spate of attacks killed dozens of civilians. Zelenskyy said the onslaught began almost immediately after Witkoff and Putin held hours-long talks in St Petersburg, scoffing at US President Donald Trump s envoy s description of the Russian leader as a humanitarian .
Instead it has become bogged down in Europe s biggest conflict since World War II. Hundreds of thousands have been killed, millions forced from their homes and much of eastern and southern Ukraine destroyed. Zelenskyy met Witkoff in Norway on Tuesday as relations between Kyiv and Washington plunged to their worst state since Trump publicly berated Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in February 2025.
Instead it has become bogged down in Europe s biggest conflict since World War II. Hundreds of thousands have been killed, millions forced from their homes and much of eastern and southern Ukraine destroyed. Zelenskyy met Witkoff in Norway on Tuesday as relations between Kyiv and Washington plunged to their worst state since Trump publicly berated Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in February 2025.
Unfortunately, numerous sites across the city have been hit and damaged." Trump envoy Witkoff praises 'humanitarian' Putin at meeting in Russia Zelenskyy said two people were killed and 34 injured, including five children, in attacks on a dozen Ukrainian regions. Ukraine said Russia fired at least 21 ballistic missiles in three waves.
Unfortunately, numerous sites across the city have been hit and damaged." Trump envoy Witkoff praises 'humanitarian' Putin at meeting in Russia Zelenskyy said two people were killed and 34 injured, including five children, in attacks on a dozen Ukrainian regions. Ukraine said Russia fired at least 21 ballistic missiles in three waves.
Russia said Ukraine launched 630 drones towards the capital Moscow during the night. The two sides also held an exchange of war dead, with Moscow handing over 252 bodies and Ukraine handing over 25, according to the Belta state news agency in neighbouring Belarus. Such exchanges have accompanied moves towards talks in the past.
Russia said Ukraine launched 630 drones towards the capital Moscow during the night. The two sides also held an exchange of war dead, with Moscow handing over 252 bodies and Ukraine handing over 25, according to the Belta state news agency in neighbouring Belarus. Such exchanges have accompanied moves towards talks in the past.
Russia said it carried out a "massive strike" overnight on port infrastructure in Ukraine's Odesa region, as well as on vessels used by the Ukrainian military. In Russia, two people were wounded near Moscow by drones launched towards the capital during the night, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram. Most of the drones were downed at long range, he added.
Unfortunately, numerous sites across the city have been hit and damaged." Trump envoy Witkoff praises 'humanitarian' Putin at meeting in Russia Zelenskyy said two people were killed and 34 injured, including five children, in attacks on a dozen Ukrainian regions. Ukraine said Russia fired at least 21 ballistic missiles in three waves.
(Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP) Photo Credit: GENYA SAVILOV Ukrainian firefighters work at the site of a Russian missile strike at private houses in Kyiv late on October 21, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photo Credit: AFP Missiles struck Kyiv throughout the night, authorities said early on Thursday (October 22, 2026), sending residents into shelters and wounding six shortly after Russia signaled it was ready to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States. U.S.
diplomat had delivered. Attacks did not let up overnight, with Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko posting on social media that missile strikes had wounded six people in the capital, four of whom needed hospitalisation. Ukraine's Airforce posted a warning in the early hours of "more ballistic missiles towards Kyiv" and instructed residents to stay in shelters.
diplomat had delivered. Attacks did not let up overnight, with Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko posting on social media that missile strikes had wounded six people in the capital, four of whom needed hospitalisation. Ukraine's Airforce posted a warning in the early hours of "more ballistic missiles towards Kyiv" and instructed residents to stay in shelters.
Mr. Trump returned to power in January 2025 promising to end the war in 24 hours but more than a year of U.S.-led talks have failed to produce a breakthrough, with tens of thousands killed. In recent days, a frustrated Mr.
Putin came as Russia continued to strike Ukrainian cities ahead of winter. Kyiv said Russian attacks killed at least four people on Wednesday (October 21) including two in the capital and an elderly couple in the eastern Kharkiv region. Russian occupation authorities in the Lugansk region, meanwhile, said a Ukrainian drone strike on a phone company had killed two people.
Putin came as Russia continued to strike Ukrainian cities ahead of winter. Kyiv said Russian attacks killed at least four people on Wednesday (October 21) including two in the capital and an elderly couple in the eastern Kharkiv region. Russian occupation authorities in the Lugansk region, meanwhile, said a Ukrainian drone strike on a phone company had killed two people.
Kyiv said Russian attacks killed at least four people on Wednesday (October 21) including two in the capital and an elderly couple in the eastern Kharkiv region. Russian occupation authorities in the Lugansk region, meanwhile, said a Ukrainian drone strike on a phone company had killed two people. The Witkoff-Zelenskyy meeting on Tuesday (October 20) followed days of friction between Washington and Kyiv, and calls from Mr.
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