Overnight Russian and Ukrainian strikes killed at least four people, set alight Russia's second-largest refinery and cut power to hundreds of thousands of homes.
Three people were killed in a Russian attack on the port city of Odesa, the head of the city's military administration said on Monday. Another person was wounded and remained in serious condition.
In a Telegram post on Monday, Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said a Ukrainian drone attack set the Kirishi refinery on fire in Russia's Leningrad region.
Elsewhere in the Leningrad region, drone debris came down on an apartment block in Vsevolozhsk and killed a woman, Drozdenko said.
The fire on the refinery territory has since been extinguished, the governor said.
Air defence units brought down 113 Ukrainian drones over the Leningrad region during the attack, according to Drozdenko.
A refinery hit for the third time
Russia's second-largest refinery is Kirishi, while the surrounding Leningrad region is a major outlet for the country's oil and grain exports through the Baltic Sea. Formally the Kirishi Petroleum Organic Synthesis plant and known as Kinef, the site can process 20 million tonnes of oil a year and accounts for more than 6% of Russia's refined output, including fuel used by its armed forces.
Ukrainian drones struck the same plant on 30 August. Processing at the refinery stopped temporarily on 5 May, after strikes damaged three of its four crude distillation units.
The facility is already covered by Western sanctions against Russia, including measures imposed by the United States.
Large explosions at the site, about 800 km north of Ukraine, were reported by Ukrainian monitoring channels, among them Exilenova+ and Supernova+. NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System recorded multiple hotspots at the facility.
| Date | What happened at Kirishi |
|---|---|
| 30 August | Ukrainian drones targeted the refinery |
| 5 May | Processing halted after three of four crude distillation units were damaged |
| 8-9 November | Fire broke out after a drone attack; since extinguished |
Its forces also hit the Morozov plant near St Petersburg, Ukraine's military chief of staff said. The plant produces explosives and fuel for the Russian missiles used against Ukraine.
Power cut to two regions
More than 600,000 residents lost power in the central Dnipropetrovsk region after a night attack damaged important energy facilities, the power company DTEK said on Telegram.
In the northeastern Kharkiv region, nearly 250,000 customers lost electricity after a Russian drone struck critical infrastructure, Zlatopil mayor Mykola Baksheyev said.
Firstpost put the combined figure for the two regions at nearly 850,000 people without electricity.
317 drones and a week of strikes
Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 317 long-range attack drones overnight on 9 November. Of those, 105 were jet-powered; Russia also launched an unspecified number of Banderol cruise missiles.
The overnight barrage followed 128 Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy sector in the past week, according to the Ministry of Energy, which described them as part of a long-term campaign to degrade energy and heating infrastructure before winter.
Right now, many of our cities and communities are facing a very difficult situation with power, water, and heating supplies due to Russian strikes
The night-time strikes caused outages across the country, Zelenskyy said, leaving 140 apartment buildings in the Zhytomyr region alone without heating.
He said the most acute energy crises were in the Kyiv, Dnipro, Sumy and Donetsk regions and in Kherson.
Ukraine's state-owned grid operator, Ukrenergo, said Russian forces deliberately targeted the workers who maintain and repair damaged energy facilities.
Repeated attacks had complicated restoration work, DTEK said, while repairs were under way in Kharkiv. The time when supply would return remained unknown.
Russian state news agencies said Russian forces hit three power substations and a Black Sea cargo ship, which Moscow claimed was transporting arms to Ukrainian forces. The claims couldn't be independently verified.
This morning, the Russians attacked Komyshuvakha with an FPV drone, where emergency rescue operations have been underway for seven days ... Unfortunately, more people may still be under the rubble
The death toll in Komyshuvakha had risen to 55 from the 50 reported earlier by emergency services, Zelenskyy said. Moscow had struck an aid distribution centre in the village in the Zaporizhzhia region.
- Past week128 strikes on the grid
Ukraine's Ministry of Energy counted 128 Russian attacks on the energy sector.
- A day earlierFive regions dark
A massive attack plunged residents of five regions into darkness and hampered transmission in Kyiv.
- Overnight317 drones
Russia launched 317 long-range drones, 105 jet-powered, plus Banderol cruise missiles.
- Tuesday and WednesdayAbu Dhabi talks
Trilateral negotiations are scheduled for 10-11 November.
Diplomacy in Abu Dhabi
Kyiv never agreed to the energy ceasefire with Russia that U.S. President Donald Trump imposed unilaterally on 31 October, senior Ukrainian officials said. That's why strikes on Russian energy infrastructure resumed.
He and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had agreed to activate a special emergency mechanism, Zelenskyy said, so European funding could be deployed faster after Russian attacks on the grid.
This will make it possible to quickly provide Ukraine with funding for what is needed most right now. Our teams are already working on this
What is set to take place in Abu Dhabi are trilateral negotiations between Russia and Ukraine under the mediation of the United States.
National security advisers from Germany, France and the United Kingdom would join the EU and NATO, a senior EU official said.
Europe would be represented at Tuesday's talks and France would participate, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. The trilateral talks were scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
What we know
- At least four people were killed in the overnight strikes.
- A Ukrainian drone attack set the Kirishi refinery on fire, and the blaze has been extinguished.
- More than 600,000 people lost power in the Dnipropetrovsk region, DTEK said.
Still unclear
- The final death toll, with rescue work continuing at Komyshuvakha and warnings that more people may be under the rubble.
- Whether processing at the Kirishi refinery has been affected by the fire.
- Whether Russian claims of hitting three substations and a Black Sea cargo ship are accurate.
- When power will be restored in the Kharkiv region.
