A daily brief on the Russia–Ukraine war, in plain words. The newest brief sits on this page. Each brief also gets its own dated page, so the old ones stack up below as they come.
Latest brief — Monday, November 9, 2026
Overnight strikes
Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 317 attack drones from the evening of Nov 8, including 105 jet-powered drones and “Banderole” guided munitions, and that air defenses shot down or suppressed 271 of them, including 81 of the jet-powered ones. Hits were recorded at 31 locations, and fallen drones or debris at 9 more.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its overnight strikes hit facilities supporting Ukraine's military-industrial complex and armed forces, naming a plant in Hlobyne in the Poltava region and electrical substations in the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Vinnytsia regions. Russian state agencies put the substation count at three. The two Russian accounts do not give the same number.
Officials on both sides said Russian strikes on energy sites left people without power across 12 Ukrainian regions. President Zelenskyy said Kyiv, Dnipro, Sumy and Donetsk regions and Kherson face the worst of it, and that Ukraine and the European Commission agreed to switch on a special emergency fund so EU money can move faster after energy attacks. Ukraine's Energy Ministry counted 128 Russian attacks on the energy sector in the past week.
In Kremenchuk, Poltava region, drones hit a 16-storey apartment building and a hotel building, the regional governor and the State Emergency Service said. Rescuers pulled 15 people out; the fires are out.
In Khmelnytskyi, in western Ukraine, drones damaged private homes and set fires, Governor Serhii Tiurin said. No casualties were reported there. Cherkasy's governor said critical infrastructure was damaged in the regional capital, also with no casualties.
Front line
140 combat clashes in the past day, counted by Ukraine's General Staff — down from 199 the day before. The heaviest fighting was on the Pokrovsk axis, with 15 attacks stopped, then Kostiantynivka with 9, the southern Slobozhanshchyna axis with 7, and Huliaipole with 5. The General Staff reported no Russian assaults on the Kupiansk, Sloviansk or Orikhiv axes.
Across the day Russia made 84 airstrikes, dropping 250 guided bombs, and sent 8,690 kamikaze drones, with 2,331 shelling attacks, by the General Staff's count.
The General Staff said Ukraine's aviation, missile forces and artillery hit one Russian troop concentration area, eight artillery systems and four control points.
The General Staff put Russian losses for the day at 2,980 personnel — a figure Ukrainian outlets called a record for the war — bringing its running total to about 1,609,380. That is Ukraine's claim; Russia does not publish a matching daily count.
ISW's Nov 8 assessment said Russian forces had recently advanced south of Dobropillya. No new DeepState map change for today was reported in the open sources checked for this brief.
Ukraine strikes back
Ukrainian drones set fire to the Kirishi (KINEF) oil refinery in Russia's Leningrad region overnight — Russia's second-largest refinery, about 800 km from the Ukrainian border. Footage showed fireballs over the plant, and NASA's fire-tracking system picked up several hotspots. Leningrad Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said the fire was contained and put out.
Drozdenko first said 81 Ukrainian drones were downed over his region, then raised the count to 113. Russia's Defense Ministry said 430 Ukrainian drones were shot down in all, over 14 regions and Crimea. The regional and ministry figures are both Russian claims and neither is independently verified.
Ukraine's chief of staff said Ukrainian forces also hit the Morozov plant near St. Petersburg, which he said makes explosives and fuel for Russian missiles. That is a Ukrainian claim; no Russian statement on it was reported.
Rostov Governor Yury Slyusar said drones were destroyed overnight in the Millerovsky, Tarasovsky and Neklinovsky districts. Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev said six drones were destroyed over his region, with no casualties or damage in early reports.
Russia's Defense Ministry also said its forces hit a cargo ship in the Black Sea, claiming it was carrying weapons to Ukraine. The ship claim is Russia's alone and was not independently confirmed.
Civilian toll
In Odesa, the head of the city's military administration said a Russian attack killed 3 people and left 1 person seriously wounded.
In Kremenchuk, 7 people were injured in the overnight strikes, including a 16-year-old, the Poltava governor and the State Emergency Service said. One person was also injured by shelling and drone attacks in the Kherson city community, Ukrainian officials said.
In Russia's Leningrad region, Governor Drozdenko said a woman was killed in Vsevolozhsk when drone debris fell on the roof of her apartment building; the other tenants were evacuated. An apartment in Kirishi was also damaged, with no casualties reported there.
Komyshuvakha update: the count from the Nov 2 bombing of the school used as an aid point now stands at at least 55 dead, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said. The acting regional head, Mykhailo Semikin, put the missing at 45; Ukraine's military intelligence, HUR, put the missing at around 50 — the two counts overlap while bodies are still being identified, and DNA work is still going. On Sunday a Russian drone hit the rescue crews working at the site, damaging special equipment; no rescuer was injured, the Emergency Service said. That updates yesterday's figures of 53 dead and 53 missing.
Talks
The Abu Dhabi round starts tomorrow, Nov 10–11 — the first trilateral meeting of Ukraine, Russia and the United States since February. Ukraine's team is led by Rustem Umerov, with Kyrylo Budanov, Serhii Kyslytsia and Davyd Arakhamia. Russia's is led by Vladimir Medinsky, with Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin, military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov and General Staff officer Yury Zhigarlovsky. The US side is Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
The sides disagree in public about who else is in the room. The European Commission and European Council said they will send a joint team of senior officials, and France's foreign minister said Europe, including France, would take part. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted on Monday that the Abu Dhabi meeting stays trilateral — Russia and Ukraine under US mediation — and that the Europeans have separate channels with Kyiv and Washington. Zelenskyy said he had lined up negotiating positions with European Commission President von der Leyen before the talks.
Sources: Ukraine's General Staff and Air Force (via Ukrinform and open wires); Russia's Defense Ministry and the Leningrad, Rostov and Voronezh regional governors (via open wires and state agencies); ISW; The Kyiv Independent reporting; Al Jazeera. Each side's numbers are that side's claims, labeled as such.
