Deadly Kyiv strikes follow Putin's agreement to resume trilateral talks
Russian attacks on Kyiv killed at least two people and wounded 22, including four children, hours after President Vladimir Putin agreed to renew three-way negotiations following a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff. The Kremlin says the next round is planned for the first half of November in Abu Dhabi.
Sara Khan
Missile and drone attacks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy questioned Russia's commitment to peace after the strikes, Al Arabiya English reported on Global News Today.
Describing the overnight attack reported on October 22, 2026, Ukraine's air force said it had intercepted none of the ballistic and cruise missiles Russia used. It said 181 of the 210 Russian drones launched were shot down or otherwise suppressed, with impacts recorded at 32 locations. Zelenskyy said the capital faced three waves totaling 21 ballistic missiles.
Ukraine also carried out one of its largest long-range drone attacks of the year during the same overnight period. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said at least 630 Ukrainian drones targeted the Russian capital region. Russia's Defense Ministry reported shooting down at least 808 Ukrainian drones, with interceptions across 17 Russian regions, occupied Crimea and the Black Sea.
The attacks came amid a mounting civilian toll. On October 23, Ukraine's acting prosecutor general, Anton Kovalsky, said Russian attacks had killed more than 19,000 Ukrainian civilians, including 762 children, since the full-scale invasion more than four years earlier. Prosecutors had confirmed 2,960 civilian deaths so far in 2026, including 668 children, he said.
Abu Dhabi negotiations planned
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed on October 23 that Russia, Ukraine and the United States planned to meet in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, during the first half of November. He said the negotiations would retain their trilateral format.
Speaking separately to the Hudson Institute that day, Zelenskyy said technical negotiations would take place in the first half of November, "as early as possible". He cautioned that much depended on Russia.
US President Donald Trump's effort to end the war was the focus of an Al Arabiya English discussion between Global News Today host Tom Burges Watson and Yuriy Sak, a former adviser to Ukraine's Defense Ministry. They discussed the latest Russian attacks, the prospects for negotiations and Trump's diplomatic efforts.
US initiatives and a prisoner exchange
The Trump administration's diplomatic push has included easing sanctions on Moscow and agreeing to buy 300,000 metric tons of Russian diesel. On October 23, Moscow said the first shipment was heading to New York. European leaders criticized the move, saying it gave Russia "hope" and made peace harder to achieve.
The White House also announced that day that First Lady Melania Trump had brokered a "localised ceasefire" between Moscow and Kyiv in Oleshky. The southern Ukrainian city has been under Russian occupation since February 2022.
Separately, Russia's Defense Ministry announced an exchange of 270 prisoners of war from each side on October 23. It said the released Russian servicemen were in Belarus, receiving medical and psychological assistance before their transfer to Russia.
Sak's Nobel Peace Prize argument
The Al Arabiya English episode's title quoted Sak as saying, "Ukraine's victory could be Trump's Nobel Peace Prize".
The 2026 prize had already been announced on October 9 and awarded to South African jurist Navi Pillay "for her efforts to promote peace and international law". Trump, a nominee who had long sought the award, was passed over. He criticized the Norwegian Nobel Committee, saying it had "shamed itself beyond repair".
