Missiles rained down on Kyiv as Trump promises a "big, beautiful deal"

Russia attacked Ukraine with 172 drones and 36 ballistic missiles overnight from Friday to Saturday, just days before the trilateral peace talks set to begin on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Moscow's goal was to "plunge Kyiv and the whole country into darkness."

The strikes hit twelve other regions besides Kyiv, with the main targets being power lines and the substations that carry electricity generated by nuclear power plants to Kyiv and the central regions. According to Zelensky, only four of the 36 missiles were shot down, which he attributed to Ukraine's shortage of interceptor missiles.

According to reports by CBS News and Radio Free Europe, one person was killed in Dnipropetrovsk region, and at least nine were injured nationwide, including two children. In Kyiv, residential buildings and shops were damaged, and a kindergarten in the Solomianskyi district was also severely damaged. The capital was left without electricity, heating and water supply, as nighttime temperatures hovered around zero degrees. The missile attack forced the closure of the roughly 800-meter-long Northern Bridge, which connects residential districts on the eastern bank of the Dnipro to the city center; according to Mayor Klitschko, repairs have already begun. Besides Kyiv, the power outages also severely affected Zhytomyr, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions. According to Zelensky, one energy facility was hit by KN-23 missiles, which were "manufactured and supplied by North Korea." The Ukrainian president therefore called for stricter sanctions and more U.S. military support. Russia's Ministry of Defense also acknowledged the strikes on Kyiv, claiming that weapons and military equipment were being transported to Ukrainian troops across the Northern Bridge. Moscow also said it had hit the Meridian plant in Kyiv region, which reportedly manufactures Flamingo-type drones, as well as a substation in Zhytomyr and a cargo ship in the Black Sea. On the same night, Ukraine used drones to attack the Saratov oil refinery, where a fire broke out. According to Ukraine's General Staff, the Proton-Elektrotex plant in Orel, which produces components for Iskander-M missiles, was also hit.

The attack is particularly telling because on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump said the end of the war was close, speaking of a "big, beautiful deal" with Moscow — a response that Kyiv received just hours later in the form of missiles. The Abu Dhabi talks are scheduled for November 10 and 11, mediated by American officials Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with Vladimir Medinsky leading the Russian delegation and Rustem Umerov the Ukrainian one. This will be the fourth round brokered by the Trump administration, after the previous three ended without tangible results, the most recent one in Geneva in February. The main point of contention remains who will control the territories under Russian occupation, and what long-term security guarantees Ukraine will receive.

According to Zelensky, Russia treats diplomacy itself as a tool of aggression, and the events of recent weeks reinforce this view. In Komyshuvakha, in Zaporizhzhia region, Russian glide bombs hit a former school and a shelter on Monday while residents were waiting for aid. According to CBS, the death toll has risen to 55, with dozens more still missing. Meanwhile, in Kherson region, near occupied Oleshky, around eight hundred civilians were evacuated during a six-day local ceasefire, in which Melania Trump also played a role in bringing about the temporary truce.

Wasteland