Russia strikes Ukraine as latest Trump peace efforts falter

KYIV – Russia launched multiple drone and missile strikes on Ukraine as the latest peace attempts by US President Donald Trump appeared to be floundering.

The attack killed at least seven civilians, including children, with more than a dozen injured across the country in the early hours of Oct 22, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media platform X.

Ten regions came under attack, including the capital of Kyiv, Odesa in the south and Dnipro in the east, with energy infrastructure and many residential buildings being hit, according to the president.  

“Russian words about diplomacy mean nothing as long as the Russian leadership doesn’t feel critical problems,” Mr Zelensky said. He called for stronger sanctions on Moscow and delivery of long-range weapons to Ukraine to bring an end to the war closer.

The strikes came as a planned

second summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin

on ending the war was thrown into jeopardy. The US leader said on Oct 21 that he did not want to have “a wasted meeting” with his Russian counterpart, which had been planned within weeks in Budapest. 

Mr Trump said he had not made a determination to scrap the meeting, but reiterated his desire – rejected by the Kremlin – to see current battlefield lines frozen as part of a ceasefire agreement. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed that idea on Oct 21, signalling that Moscow sticks to its maximalist demands, including Ukraine ceding full control of its Donetsk region. 

The latest diplomatic snag reduces the risk of a potentially unfavourable deal being struck over Ukraine’s head. But it also leaves Kyiv fighting off Russia’s grinding offensive with no obvious end in sight. Russia continues to ramp up its attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with Kyiv attempting to respond by targeting refineries.

Mr Trump on Oct 17

rebuffed Mr Zelensky’s request for Tomahawk long-range missiles

, which would allow Kyiv to extend its strikes deep into Russia, and potentially even to reach Moscow. The US president briefly touted the possibility of sending the weapons, which had raised hopes in Ukraine that he was coming around to Europe’s position that strengthening Ukraine would force Russia to negotiate in earnest.

The Ukrainian leader travels to Stockholm on Oct 22 as he seeks military aid, including air defences. European Union leaders will then discuss additional sanctions targeting the Kremlin as well as financial aid to Ukraine through the use of frozen Russian central bank assets at their summit in Brussels on Oct 23. Ukraine’s allies from the so-called Coalition of the Willing are due to convene on Oct 24.  

“We must ramp up the pressure on Moscow with the 19th European sanctions package we are approving, which will reduce resources that Moscow can use for the war,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told the Senate ahead of the EU summit. The stalemate on the battlefield “has today made possible reaching peace”.

European nations are working with Ukraine on a 12-point proposal to end Russia’s war along current battle lines, pushing back against Mr Putin’s renewed demands to the US for Kyiv to surrender territory in return for a peace deal. A peace board chaired by Mr Trump would oversee implementation of the proposed plan, according to people familiar with the matter.

The port city of Izmail on the Danube was also hit in Russia’s attack, local officials said on Telegram. Ukraine’s biggest private energy utility DTEK said its facility in Odesa was severely hit, forcing the company to impose emergency power cuts for households.

Russian drones struck a kindergarten in Kharkiv, killing a child and injuring several children, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, is a frequent target of attacks with various types of weapons due to its proximity to the border with Russia.

Ahead of winter, Moscow has been stepping up strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, knocking out more than half of its gas production that is essential for heating.

Ukraine’s railway company Ukrzaliznytsia said on Facebook several railway routes were changed due to an attack, leading to delays.

Chernihiv in the north and Sumy in the north-east have been left without water and power supply for several days as a result of the increased Russian attacks. 

Ukraine’s energy ministry estimates that October has become one of the hardest months in terms of severity of the attacks on the country’s grid, transportation networks and gas production facilities since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, now well into its fourth year.

Separately, Ukraine’s general staff said late on Oct 21 that the country’s air force together with other units struck a chemical plant in Russia’s Bryansk, around 100km from the border with Ukraine. Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles were used, the general staff said in a post on X. BLOOMBERG