Russia and Ukraine continued to strike each other from Thursday evening to early Friday, despite expressing willingness to hold peace talks. Russia launched a massive attack on Ukrainian energy facilities, leaving over 500,000 people without power in the Zhytomyr, Volyn, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, and Rivne regions. Ukraine's Ministry of Energy stated that emergency repair work has begun where security conditions permit.

Earlier, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Wednesday to discuss ending the conflict. Following the meeting, Putin stated that Russia is prepared to resume U.S.-brokered peace talks with Kyiv in November, aiming to ensure the security of both Russia and Ukraine after a final peace agreement is reached. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also stated on Thursday evening that he is ready for a ceasefire, but Ukraine requires strong security guarantees.