First posted on Instagram
Russia carried out a complex, massive overnight attack on Ukraine on November 3, 2026, aimed primarily at critical infrastructure, with energy as the main target. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia used 289 attack drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles across nine regions. Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, said three of its thermal power plants stopped generating electricity after extensive damage, and emergency power cuts were imposed in Kyiv and at least six other regions.
In Dnipro, the Pridniprovska thermal power plant in the Dnipropetrovsk region was hit again — the second attack on it in one day — as part of strikes that also hit a hospital, a residential area and a police department in Dnipro. The head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, Oleksandr Hanzha, reported at least 15 people injured in the morning strikes, three of them seriously, with rescue work complicated by the threat of repeat strikes. Russia's Defence Ministry said it hit four power plants and two electricity substations, plus port infrastructure, claiming the sites supplied military factories and the army; Reuters noted it could not independently verify that claim.
A day earlier, a Russian attack on a former school building being used to distribute humanitarian aid in Komyshuvakha, in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, killed 29 people, with 48 still missing as of November 3. Three days of mourning were declared in Zaporizhzhia. A hospital in Kharkiv was also hit, injuring dozens of people.
Security analysts warn Moscow's strategy goes beyond the bombings, using disinformation, cyberattacks, suspected sabotage and political influence to deepen divisions across Europe, weaken trust between European nations, undermine confidence in democratic institutions, disrupt economic stability and reduce Western unity and support for Ukraine. A Swedish security analysis (SCEEUS commentary, October 28, 2026) similarly found Russia's hybrid warfare aims to undermine European unity, resolve and credibility and to weaken European support for Ukraine. The post itself notes this is not proof of a secret plan to destroy capitalism or dismantle the EU.
The bombardment came just after the United States said it would lead a new round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi beginning November 10, and Zelenskyy said the strikes were timed for the U.S. election day. Ukraine also struck back overnight, setting fire to an oil refinery in Yaroslavl, Russia, where two employees were hospitalised.