Russian air strikes killed 55 people in Kamishevakh in Zaporizhzhia Oblast on November 2, and rescue crews working at the site were hit by repeated drone strikes in the days that followed [15][35][42]. Overnight Russian strikes on energy infrastructure left more than 600,000 consumers without electricity in Dnipropetrovsk region and roughly 250,000 in Kharkiv region [3][19][24]. The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant lost its sole external power line for at least the 27th time during the conflict and ran on emergency diesel generators [19][44]. The strikes preceded US-mediated trilateral talks scheduled for November 10–11 in Abu Dhabi [46][48].
Russia's Ministry of Defence stated that the overnight strikes targeted military-industrial, energy, and transport infrastructure supporting Ukraine's armed forces, including a bridge it said carried military equipment and a plant it said produced cruise missiles [7][23]. The ministry said Russian forces would continue striking fuel and energy facilities it considers aids to the Ukrainian military [3]. Russian leadership denies that its army deliberately targets civilian infrastructure, hospitals, schools, kindergartens, or energy and water facilities [18][42]. Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said the Abu Dhabi talks do not restrict Russian military operations [47].
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia fired 115 missiles, nearly 1,900 guided aerial bombs, and more than 3,000 attack drones in the past week and accused Moscow of using the strikes to build leverage before the Abu Dhabi talks [5][19][24]. European Commissioner Marta Kos has told the European Parliament that Russian strikes on energy, water, and heating infrastructure are “systematic, deliberate strikes designated to plunge civilians into darkness and cold” [53]. Ukrainian energy provider DTEK reported that repair work was complicated by repeated attacks on the same facilities [3][16]. A substation connecting the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear plants to Kyiv and central Ukraine was among the sites damaged [24][27].
The death toll from the November 2 strike on Kamishevakh rose to 55, including two rescuers and four police officers, with some bodies too damaged for visual identification and requiring DNA testing [35][39]. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported that Russian drones struck rescue crews three times on November 8, injuring two drivers and damaging fire equipment [12][32][35]. The Russian side claimed the November 8 strike targeted a base operated by UAV operators [15]. The Zaporizhzhia regional military administration said Russian forces dropped FAB-500 and FAB-3000 bombs during humanitarian aid distribution [32]. Survivor Raisa described being trapped under a concrete slab for about two hours and said all her colleagues in the canteen were killed [40][41]. Latvia convened an emergency UN Security Council session over the attacks [40].
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi confirmed the Zaporizhzhia plant's 27th external-power outage, saying it underlined a continued precarious nuclear safety situation [44][45]. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Moscow of turning nuclear safety into “another instrument of blackmail” and called for sanctions on Rosatom and the plant's return to Ukrainian control [45]. Russian-controlled plant management stated that radiation levels on the site were normal [19]. China's representative to the IAEA, Li Song, said China opposes armed attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities and argued that the nuclear safety risk can only be eliminated through a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis [52].
US envoy Stephen Witkoff announced working-level talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11, focused on post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, and humanitarian efforts [46][48]. Peskov said the talks would address security guarantees for both parties, with details discussed behind closed doors; Vladimir Medinsky will head the Russian delegation [46]. President Donald Trump said the war could be close to being settled and envisioned what he called a “big, beautiful agreement” involving all of Europe [7]. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said there was little hope that the US approach would quickly produce a ceasefire [33]. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said France and Europe would be present at the Abu Dhabi talks and that no discussion of the continent's future could ignore European demands [49]. Separately, the Coalition of the Willing began exercises in Poland with approximately 2,800 troops from 11 countries to develop long-term security guarantees for Ukraine [26].
Leaked data from Russia's federal statistics service Rosstat, obtained by the Belarusian Cyber Partisans and Ukrainian hackers Silent Crow, pointed to roughly 400,000–450,000 Russian war-related deaths between February 2022 and August 2026, making it Russia's deadliest conflict since World War II [1][10][28]. Analyst Janis Kluge called the disclosure the most significant data release on Russian casualties [28]. The Institute for the Study of War argued that casualty rates and lost offensive initiative explained Putin's reliance on a “winter victory” theory built on ballistic missiles and drones [10]. Researcher Maria Vyushkova said Kremlin recruitment policies amounted to the “extermination of entire nations” for some of Russia's smallest ethnic groups [28].
Demographers and officials reported Ukraine's population in government-controlled territory fell from about 37 million to 27–28 million since 2022, with deaths outnumbering births more than three to one in the first half of 2026 [38]. Demographer Ella Libanova said Ukraine was losing its future: “También estamos perdiendo nuestro futuro” (“We are also losing our future”) [38]. Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev called the decline proof of the biological death of a nation, and Putin adviser Anton Kobyakov said only extinction remained for Ukraine and only Russia could save the country [38].
Ukrainian drone strikes damaged a bridge over the Mius River in Russia's Rostov region, with Governor Yuri Slyusar reporting damage to the roadway and two cranes but no casualties [8][25]. Russian air defences reported intercepting 50 Ukrainian drones over five regions in a 12-hour period [4][8]. Ukrainian drone threats to Russian airspace disrupted 34,000 flights in October, with travellers describing changed itineraries and travel firms selling contingency solutions [17]. In Bangladesh, officials described LNG price shocks driven by the war forcing load-shedding and tariff rises [51], while Kenyan families reported relatives lured by fake job offers into Russian military service [50]. In Lithuania, investigators described a GRU-recruited network of agents couriering incendiary devices across Europe [30]. Novaya Gazeta, long a flagship of independent Russian journalism, announced it would publish its final issue under Kremlin pressure [9].
The Abu Dhabi talks are scheduled to begin on November 10 [46][48]. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant ran on emergency diesel generators, holding approximately two weeks of diesel reserves, before external power was restored after roughly ten hours, with the cause not yet established [44][45]. Rescue operations in Kamishevakh continued under the threat of further strikes [15][35].