Russia Launched 21 Ballistic Missiles and 210 Drones Overnight. One Person Was Killed in Kyiv. The Attack Came Hours After Witkoff Left Saint Petersburg.

KYIV – October 22, 2026 – Russian forces launched Iskander-M, S-400, Zircon, and Oniks missiles plus 210 attack drones against Ukraine on the night of October 21-22. Kyiv was the main target. Ukrainian air defences downed 181 of the drones, including 87 jet-powered ones. Ten drones were still airborne at 9 a.m. No ballistic missiles were reported intercepted. One person was killed in Kyiv. Twenty-two people were injured, including four children. Residential buildings, energy infrastructure, a railway station, the metro, shopping centres, industrial sites, and a monastery were damaged.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack began “almost immediately” after U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff finished his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday. He wrote that Russia used 21 ballistic missiles in three waves against the capital. The Air Force report lists the missile types and the drone count. It does not list ballistic intercepts. The pattern matches the previous nights in which ballistic missiles reached their targets while the majority of the drones were shot down or jammed.

Ukraine also launched a large drone attack on Russia the same night. Russia’s defence ministry said it downed 808 Ukrainian drones over 17 regions. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed that figure. The exchange continued while the diplomatic track was active. Witkoff’s meeting in Saint Petersburg followed constructive talks in Oslo that included Zelenskyy. Trump has said peace is closer than ever and that Ukraine should settle. The overnight strike is the military record that arrived after the meeting ended. The dead and wounded in Kyiv are the civilian record. The 181 drones downed is the air-defence record. The ballistic missiles that were not intercepted are the part that reached the city.

The monastery is the most specific civilian site named beyond the residential buildings and the metro. A railway station and shopping centres were also hit. Those are not energy targets. They are the buildings that appear on the list when ballistic missiles are aimed at a capital and some of them strike or debris falls. Zelenskyy’s timing note is the political frame. The attack started after the Witkoff meeting ended. Whether that timing was deliberate or coincidental is not in the public statements. The result is in the casualty list and in the damage. Repair crews are working. The power outages from the night have not been fully tallied. The rest of the count is still coming in.

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Keenan Hutka

Publisher of RL News. Covers Kenora, Northwestern Ontario, and Central Canada — local stories, national politics, and the war in Ukraine.

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