Rescuers accompanied by a search dog search for victims among the rubble of a house after a Russian air attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
Andrei Marienko/AP
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Andrei Marienko/AP
kyiv, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that kyiv is once again receiving early warnings from its partners about the arrival of Russian missiles following recent strikes that he said occurred without warning, leaving civilians vulnerable.
For at least a week, the Ukrainian leader has claimed that his country did not receive early warning about ballistic missiles targeting the capital. Such intelligence, he explained, saves lives by allowing the public to be alerted and giving military units time to attempt to intercept the missiles.
Zelensky said the change came after talks with his U.S. counterparts, including a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“We are grateful that intelligence services are now functioning, and I am talking about early warning, which is very important for our people, for children, adults, civilians, because we can hear when ballistics are coming,” Zelensky said during a visit to Norway. “So we’re grateful to the U.S. side now that it’s working.”
Speaking to reporters in India, Rubio acknowledged mutual frustration between the United States and Ukraine over intelligence sharing and arms supplies, but categorically denied that the Trump administration had made any changes to its previous policies on both issues.
US envoy to visit St. Petersburg
Separately, Russia launched a new missile and drone attack on civilian areas in Ukraine, killing at least nine people, officials said, as Zelensky sought increased U.S. and European assistance.
Zelensky was joined in Norway by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who tried unsuccessfully to steer Russia and Ukraine toward a settlement ending the war. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb also met with the Ukrainian president in the Norwegian capital.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb speak during a news conference Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, in Oslo, Norway.
Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix via AP
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Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix via AP
Gahr Støre said Witkoff planned to travel to St. Petersburg on Wednesday to meet with Russian leaders, exchange ideas from the Oslo meeting and share proposals from his European and American colleagues.
“Today was a good day for peace,” Stubb said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was willing to listen to new US proposals regarding Ukraine, but did not expect any “miracles” from Washington.
At the White House, President Donald Trump stepped up pressure on Zelensky to reach a deal with Russia as relations between the two men deteriorated again.
“We want Zelensky to make a deal,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “We gave a lot to Ukraine. We received absolutely nothing in return except grief, death and huge monetary losses.”
If that doesn’t happen, “I think it will be a very bad thing.”
Zelensky speaks with Rubio after US support slows
The conversation with Rubio came after Zelensky told a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Monday that he believed “a political decision was made to slow down… the support that is being provided to us.”
Ukraine is almost out of the U.S.-made Patriot air defense interceptors it needs to stop Russian ballistic missiles, according to Zelenskyy, who has advocated for Washington to send more. But he said the Pentagon was delaying delivery of missiles that other countries have purchased for Ukraine.
The Ukrainian leader also said speed restrictions were still in place for his country’s use of Starshield, the military version of U.S. company SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, hampering operations on the battlefield.
Trump also lifted sanctions on Russia, a move Zelenskyy criticized as helping Putin continue the full-scale invasion of Moscow, which will reach the five-year mark in February.
Zelenskyy said he had “a substantive conversation” with Rubio.
“I am grateful for his willingness to help and his clear position,” Zelensky said on social media.
Rubio, who arrived in India on Tuesday on an official trip, denied that the United States was withholding aid from Ukraine.
“Nothing has changed,” he told reporters.
The Patriot munitions Ukraine needs are in short supply and are also needed elsewhere in the world, Rubio said.
“There was no deliberate political directive to harm Ukraine,” he said.
Europe tries to compensate for falling US supplies
European countries, worried about Russia’s plans on the continent and seeing Ukraine as a bulwark against Moscow’s ambitions, are trying to offset any drop in U.S. supplies, but some key assets are American-made.
European countries and European Union institutions have allocated 237 billion euros ($266 billion) to support Ukraine, compared to 115 billion euros ($129 billion) for the United States, according to the German Institute in Kiel, which tracks aid to Kyiv.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas questioned Tuesday whether US negotiators had been honest dealmakers in peace efforts. Ukrainian officials say the Trump administration encouraged kyiv to cede land to Russia in exchange for peace.
“Although U.S. negotiators have been trying to push Ukraine into capitulation for … a year and a half now,” Ukraine did not surrender on Putin’s terms “because Europe supported Ukraine,” Kallas said.
Russian attacks cause power outages in 12 Ukrainian regions
Four people were killed and 27 others injured, including children, in Russian missile and drone attacks on the kyiv region over the past day, regional police said.
Three were killed and six injured in the Obukhiv district, where warehouses were damaged, police said. In Bucha district, a woman was killed and 21 people were injured, including eight children, while hundreds of buildings were damaged, according to police.
On Tuesday morning, three people were killed and four injured when two vehicles caught fire in a Russian attack on the kyiv-Odessa highway, Ukraine’s emergency service said. Among the dead was the driver of a shuttle bus that was hit. The bus transports people from Kyiv to the National Military Memorial Cemetery.
Two more people were killed in a Russian attack on warehouses on the outskirts of Dnipro in central Ukraine on Tuesday, authorities said.
National grid operator Ukrenergo reported power outages in 12 regions of Ukraine following the Russian attacks.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that its forces carried out drone strikes against logistics centers, port infrastructure and three cargo ships in the port of Reni in the Odessa region. He said another bulk carrier was struck at sea while heading to Odessa.
Meanwhile, air defense intercepted 136 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions overnight, the ministry said.
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