While diplomatic efforts to end the war intensify, the skies over Russia and Ukraine witnessed a night of unprecedented fire and attacks.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced that its military shot down 808 Ukrainian drones overnight. This occurred just hours after a meeting in St. Petersburg between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. During these attacks, the Russian air defense system intercepted drones across several different regions and the Crimean Peninsula.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin explained in a message that air defense forces managed to destroy a portion of the 630 drones directed at the region, while 163 drones approached the capital. The attacks continued from 8:30 PM on Wednesday until 4:00 AM on Thursday, October 22, 2026, leaving two people injured just outside Moscow. Meanwhile, Bryansk Governor Igor Kovalchuk revealed that a Ukrainian drone strike on a car in western Russia killed a 19-year-old man and injured two others.

In response, Ukrainian authorities reported that at least seven people were killed in Russian missile and drone strikes overnight. The casualties included one man in Sumy, one woman in Kharkiv, three people in Zaporizhzhia, and two in Donetsk. In the capital, Kyiv, falling debris from the attacks damaged the metro network on the Pivdennyi bridge and injured 15 people.

Despite the military escalation, diplomatic efforts continue. Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin's foreign affairs adviser, announced on Wednesday that Putin has agreed to resume trilateral negotiations involving Russia, the United States, and Ukraine after November 10, a week after the US midterm congressional elections. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky supported the resumption of talks but expressed skepticism, stating shortly before air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv: "Let's push it back and see what happens this time".