This story follows Awaaz Punjab's report on the Abu Dhabi talks that ended on Wednesday, November 11 with a prisoner-swap deal but no breakthrough. Hours after that report, both capitals came under attack and the US envoys flew on to Moscow. Read the earlier story: Abu Dhabi talks end with prisoner swap, no breakthrough
Russia and Ukraine attacked each other's capitals early on Thursday, November 12, just hours after two days of US-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi ended without a breakthrough — and shortly before US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reported.
Source: Reuters, Nov 12, 2026
Explosions rocked Kyiv at around 1 a.m. local time, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground. Minutes earlier, Ukraine's Air Force had warned that Russian ballistic missiles were headed towards the region, and a second series of loud explosions was reported to the northwest of the capital less than 30 minutes later. The precise targets were not immediately known, and there were no immediate reports of casualties in Kyiv.
Source: Kyiv Independent, via Zot News, Nov 12, 2026
Russia's Defence Ministry said on Telegram that its forces had hit military and energy facilities in Ukraine as well as a munitions warehouse in Kyiv — a claim reported by Reuters; the ministry's account could not be independently verified in the reports. A local official in Ukraine's Rivne region said the attacks damaged energy and civilian infrastructure there, in a statement on Telegram reported by Reuters.
Source: Reuters, Nov 12, 2026
Moscow also came under attack. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that Russian air defences had shot down five drones heading for the Russian capital, and local officials said other drones were downed in the Rostov and Tula regions, Reuters reported. The mayor gave no further details, and no injuries in Moscow were reported.
Source: Reuters, Nov 12, 2026
Envoys land in Moscow as the guns fire
As the attacks unfolded, Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev greeted Kushner and Witkoff at a Moscow airport on Thursday morning, ahead of their meeting with the Kremlin chief later in the day. "Welcoming Steve and Jared to Moscow," Dmitriev wrote on X, posting a photograph of himself shaking hands with Witkoff beside the aircraft, with Kushner standing alongside, Reuters reported.
Source: Reuters, Nov 12, 2026
Kushner has said European partners must be at the Russia-Ukraine negotiating table. After Moscow, the US negotiators plan to fly to Ireland to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is due to attend a meeting of European leaders there, according to Reuters.
Source: Reuters, Nov 12, 2026
The Abu Dhabi round — the first direct Russia-Ukraine talks in nine months — produced only one tangible result, a prisoner exchange, while US mediators said differences remained on major issues including territory. Awaaz Punjab's full report on that outcome is here. Read: Abu Dhabi talks end with prisoner swap deal but no breakthrough
What the Abu Dhabi talks did — and did not — settle
The talks, held in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11, were the first between the two sides in nine months. Ukraine's team was led by Foreign Intelligence Service head Rustem Umerov and included Kyrylo Budanov, Davyd Arakhamia and Serhii Kyslytsia. Russia's delegation was again led by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, joined for the first time by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov — who helped draft Moscow's sweeping 2021 security demands to NATO — and Yuri Zhigarlovsky, deputy head of the General Staff's Main Operational Directorate.
Source: Kyiv Independent, via Zot News, Nov 12, 2026
The Institute for the Study of War said the composition of the Russian delegation raised doubts about Moscow's willingness to engage in meaningful negotiations, and Ryabkov's inclusion raised the possibility that the Kremlin intends to broaden the talks beyond Ukraine to Europe's wider security architecture. US President Donald Trump has suggested an eventual agreement could extend beyond Ukraine, saying: "There's going to be an agreement. It's going to be a big agreement, and it's going to involve more than Ukraine."
Source: Kyiv Independent, via Zot News, Nov 12, 2026
What happens next
All eyes are now on Thursday's meeting between Putin and the US envoys in Moscow, and on whether the agreed prisoner exchange is carried out — no date for it was announced in the reports. Russia has hammered Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with frequent attacks on energy and transport infrastructure since the onset of the heating season, and the overnight strikes show the fighting has not paused for the diplomacy.