Russia and Ukraine trade overnight strikes as Zelenskyy cites cluster warheads and open to freeze

Russia struck Kyiv and other Ukrainian locations overnight into Thursday, killing at least four people, Ukraine's foreign ministry said, while Ukraine sent hundreds of drones toward Moscow. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 34 people were hurt, including five children, and that Russia used three ballistic missiles with cluster warheads on Kyiv. Russia's Defense Ministry said it downed 808 Ukrainian drones and two people were injured; Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said over 600 drones were fired toward Moscow. The strikes followed Russia's release of American Stephen Hubbard and a meeting between U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and President Vladimir Putin. On Wednesday, Zelenskyy told Fox & Friends he is open to freezing front lines, then seeking security guarantees.

Left-leaning coverage led with casualties, the cluster-munition allegation and the Russian drone figures. Alternative coverage framed the strikes as showing peace is distant, citing a bridge and ambulance station hit, Trump's "closest" truce remark, and critics' view that he pressures Ukraine. Right-leaning coverage centered on Zelenskyy's interview and Hubbard's release after Trump pressed Putin. All note Hubbard's release and the diplomacy.