Russia launches mass missile barrage on Ukraine hours after Putin-US talks

Russia launched a major missile and drone attack on Ukraine just hours after U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff called President Vladimir Putin a “humanitarian” in a face-to-face meeting.

Ukraine’s Air Force said that Russia started its attack at 6 p.m. local time Wednesday, launching Iskander-M, S-400, Zircon and Onyx missiles from Russia’s Kursk, Bryansk and Rostov regions.

Russia also launched 210 Shahed attack drones from several Russian cities, although most of them were downed by air defenses, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

The bombardment came only hours after Witkoff had met Putin to discuss an end to the Ukraine war in a meeting in St Petersburg, which yielded no breakthrough.

Witkoff’s comments about Putin being a “humanitarian” came in reaction to Moscow’s release of the American prisoner, Stephen Hubbard.

This is a developing story. More to follow.