Reciprocal attacks between Russia and Ukraine resumed on Friday, 9 October 2026, leaving people dead and injured and causing damage in areas on both sides, while the US city of Miami hosts talks on new ideas to end the war. Moscow said two people were killed and others injured in Ukrainian attacks, while one person was killed and two injured in a Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia.
Deaths and damage from reciprocal attacks
Russia's Defence Ministry said air defence systems shot down 505 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions overnight. In response, the ministry said it was continuing drone attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure and naval vessels that it said the Ukrainian armed forces were using.
The ministry added that an attack on the port of Mykolaiv hit a cargo ship that it said was carrying military supplies. The announcement came as Moscow and Kyiv continued to exchange long-range air strikes targeting facilities, ports and sites inside the territories of both sides. In Russia's border Belgorod region, a Ukrainian raid killed two people and injured 4 others, according to Russian officials quoted by the TASS news agency.
The region's operations centre said a child was among those injured in the attack. In Kaluga region, the governor said 9 people were injured in a Ukrainian attack. The reported number of injured in Belgorod and Kaluga therefore reached 13, in addition to the two people killed, according to Russian authorities, in Belgorod.
In Tver region, Governor Vitaly Korolyov said on Telegram that a Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire inside a factory in the town of Redkino. He added that emergency teams had brought the fire under control, with no injuries reported from the attack. At the same time, the governor of Voronezh region said air defences had shot down 55 drones over the region overnight.
He said the interceptions caused no injuries, as Russia's Defence Ministry reported a large wave of drones targeting different parts of the country. On the Ukrainian side, acting Zaporizhzhia mayor Mykhailo Symeikin said a Russian air attack on the city killed one person and injured two others.
In Cherkasy region, the governor said Ukrainian air defences shot down 6 Russian drones during air-raid alerts issued on Friday and Thursday. In a development linked to the attacks' impact on the energy sector, private company DTEK announced emergency power cuts in Kyiv and the surrounding area.
Washington moves settlement talks to Miami
The escalation on the ground coincided with a US-led political move to revive efforts to end the war. US President Donald Trump's envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, are due to discuss new settlement ideas with Ukrainian negotiators in Miami, with European parties invited to join the discussions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that the talks would take place a day after a Russian attack on two buses in the frontline city of Kramatorsk killed 30 people and was described as one of the deadliest attacks in recent weeks. Zelenskyy said on Thursday: "The Ukrainian negotiating team is due to meet Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in the United States tomorrow."
The meeting is expected to last two days. We are counting on a European team joining our negotiating team The Ukrainian president
US officials said Washington had begun new efforts as part of a broader framework, following a visit by Witkoff and Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv last month. A source familiar with the talks said the US negotiators had invited national security advisers from the United Kingdom, France and Germany, along with officials from NATO and the European Union, to take part in the discussions.
According to US officials, the two envoys will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, a post-war prosperity plan and other aspects of the conflict. The officials said Europeans had told Washington they were unhappy about rising energy costs, while Trump blamed the increase on Ukrainian attacks on Russian diesel refineries, rather than on the war his country is waging against Iran.
A US source said: "Everyone is concerned about the winter. It will be a difficult winter if the war does not stop." He added that the United States was trying to mediate between the parties in order to reach a unified proposal that could serve as a basis for efforts to end the fighting.
Zelenskyy said last week that the United States was seeking to revive peace efforts by mediating a new round of talks between Ukraine and Russia by the end of October. The Kremlin, for its part, said last month that trilateral talks to end the war could be held this month.
Germany and the European Union tighten pressure
Alongside the negotiating track, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul toughened his rhetoric towards Moscow after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York produced no results. Wadephul threatened to impose wide-ranging sanctions, saying: "Putin's brutality knows no limits."
The German minister said Russian President Vladimir Putin was continuing "his missile terror against the Ukrainian people and many children with ever-increasing intensity". Putin would nevertheless fail, he added, "in the face of Ukraine's resistance and our continued support for its defence", referring to ongoing European backing for Kyiv. Wadephul said the European Union had allocated an additional 1.2 billion euros on Wednesday to support Ukrainian air defences.
He added: "At the same time, we will significantly increase the pressure on the Russian war economy and its supporters through new sanctions." The minister said the final steps were being agreed in Brussels, paving the way for what he described as the most comprehensive sanctions package so far to enter into force soon, targeting individuals and companies.
Preparations for sanctions targeting 1,600 entities
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas had announced that preparations were under way to impose sanctions on an additional 1,600 people and companies linked to Russia's military-industrial sector.
