Russia, Ukraine exchange strikes as U.S.-brokered peace push inches ahead

Russia hammered Ukraine's energy grid overnight, cutting power to more than 500,000 people, Ukraine's Energy Ministry said Friday. Strikes hit facilities in the Zhytomyr, Volyn, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi and Rivne regions, according to CNBC. Emergency repairs started where security conditions allowed. DTEK, a major private energy company, said shelling forced an unspecified thermal power plant offline; it added that its thermal plants have been hit more than 230 times since the 2022 full-scale invasion.

Moscow's Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed 443 Ukrainian drones overnight. The exchange showed both sides still trading blows less than a day after signaling progress in U.S.-brokered peace efforts.

The diplomatic track got a jolt Wednesday when U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. After the meeting, Putin told Russian television that Moscow was ready to resume U.S.-mediated talks with Kyiv in November, Reuters reported. He described the goal as security for Ukraine and Russia once final peace agreements are reached—not a short-term ceasefire.

President Donald Trump announced an 'energy ceasefire' on Oct. 11, but it has produced no meaningful outcome. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this week that Ukraine stopped attacking Russian energy targets for three days, then resumed because Russia kept striking its infrastructure. That leaves the limited truce without a clear result.

Speaking to CNN late Thursday, Zelenskyy said he was ready for a ceasefire but that Ukraine needed strong security guarantees. The next test: whether those November talks actually happen while the strikes keep coming.