Russian forces struck the town of Komyshuvakha with a drone on Sunday morning, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as rescue teams continued searching rubble for a seventh straight day after an earlier air-bomb attack that killed 55 people. Zelensky said in a social media post that more victims could still be buried in the debris, describing the conduct as "absolute cynicism and cruelty," Sky TG24 reported.
The same reporting said overnight Russian attacks caused power outages in many parts of Ukraine. Zelensky said that over the past week alone Russia fired 115 missiles of various types, nearly 1,900 guided aerial bombs and more than 3,000 drones at Ukrainian towns and communities, adding that many of the strikes combined different weapons, including ballistic missiles.
Why it matters
The strike on Komyshuvakha came as Ukrainian and Russian delegations prepared to resume talks mediated by the United States in Abu Dhabi on 10 and 11 November. Vatican News reported that bombing continued on the eve of the negotiations. The renewed attacks underline how far apart the sides remain even as diplomacy restarts, and they keep pressure on Ukraine's power system as winter sets in.
Casualties and damage across the country
According to ANSA, Kyiv authorities reported one person killed in the capital in overnight Russian strikes. In the Dnipro region, a drone hit a suburb of the city of Dnipro, killing one person and wounding two others, Ukrinform reported, citing Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the regional military administration. The same report said a transport company in Dnipro was attacked, with trucks and warehouses set on fire.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe's largest and under Russian control, lost its connection to the external power grid after fresh strikes on supply infrastructure, the plant's administration said. The Ferrosplavnaya backup line that fed the station was disconnected after being damaged, and staff were working to keep generators running. The International Atomic Energy Agency has said available fuel stocks can power a limited number of generators for roughly two weeks.
Oleshky troop movement and cyber warnings
Zelensky said that under the cover of a humanitarian operation in Oleshky, the Russian army carried out a significant movement of troops and heavy equipment on the right bank of the river, bringing additional occupation forces into the town and nearby communities. He said the command of Ukraine's armed forces would be asked to present proposals for better protecting lives in Kherson from what he called Russian terror. The Ukrainian leader made the remarks at one of a series of meetings with regional administrators that he intends to hold weekly.
Both countries reported cyberattacks on their public alert systems, with false warnings sent to the population, according to the reporting. The incidents coincided with the end of a truce in the Kherson region.
Separately, a Russian oil refinery caught fire in southern Russia overnight after Ukrainian drone strikes, according to the Ukrainian outlet Exilenova Plus. The report said a blaze broke out at the Afipsky refinery in the southern Krasnodar Territory, with further explosions near the city of Krasnodar and in the neighbouring Republic of Adygea. The Afipsky plant, one of the largest refineries in the region, was sanctioned by the EU in April over its role in Russia's war against Ukraine.
Moscow, for its part, claimed attacks on an electricity substation and on a ship carrying weapons for Kyiv, Tgcom24 reported.
Diplomacy and the road to Abu Dhabi
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told RTL and Public Sénat that Europeans and France will be "represented" during the Russian-Ukrainian talks in Abu Dhabi. He said Europe would be properly represented and that France would be present at the discussions, though he could not yet say who would represent the country.
On the American side, Jared Kushner, US special envoy and Donald Trump's son-in-law, has linked a ceasefire in Ukraine to broader negotiations between Russia and European countries on post-war security on the continent, according to an editorial by David Ignatius in the Washington Post cited by Ukrainska Pravda. A official familiar with the talks said the model Kushner has in mind is the NATO-Russia Council, created after the Cold War but suspended in 2014 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea.
In Italy, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani visited the foreign ministry's cyber room after threats from the pro-Russian hacker group Noname. He said a strategy is needed and that Italy is asking the G7 for a firm response, arguing that hybrid warfare targets democratic systems and that democratic countries must show unity of purpose.
What to watch: whether the Abu Dhabi talks on 10 and 11 November produce any concrete step, and whether power can be restored to the Zaporizhzhia plant before its generator fuel runs short.
