Ukraine news: Russian attacks leave tens of thousands without power as Kherson ceasefire set to end

Deutsche Welle (DW)

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November 1, 2026

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A photograph shows a Geranium-2, Russia-made drone, originally Iranian-designed Shahed 136, flying over Kyiv during a Russian aerial attack on the Ukrainian capital on November 1 — Russian drones were flying over Kyiv on SundayImage: Vladyslav Musiienko/AFP

Skip next section What you need to know

What you need to know

Russian strikes leave tens of thousands across Ukraine without power
Melania Trump-brokered ceasefire limited to Kherson region set to expire
Oleshky civilians arrive in Ukrainian territory from Belarus
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says preparations for talks with US and Russia underway after meeting with Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Here is a roundup of events from Russia’s war in Ukraine on Saturday and Sunday, October 31 and November 1:

Skip next section Preparations for trilateral talks underway, Zelenskyy says after Erdogan meeting11/01/2026November 1, 2026

Preparations for trilateral talks underway, Zelenskyy says after Erdogan meeting

Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Saturday evening for talks that the Ukrainian president said included preparations for a three-way summit between Ukraine, Russia and the United States.

He said the meeting would be held in the first half of November.

“President Erdogan and I discussed the prospects for this format and other possibilities, including ways to involve Turkey and all of Europe, as well as the possibility of holding meetings here in Turkey,” Zelenskyy said.

“At every level, Russia must be sent signals that there is no alternative to peace and that support for Ukraine will not diminish.”

Previous rounds of talks between Ukraine and Russia brokered by Turkey failed to yield a lasting peace agreement.

Describing the meetings as “important and substantive,” Zelenskyy said he and Erdogan had also discussed security issues concerning shipping through the Black Sea.

“This includes food security, and today President Erdogan and I agreed to work on a Black Sea grain corridor to ensure that the corridor exists and operates effectively,” the Ukrainian leader told a press conference.

Edited by:Kieran Burkehttps://p.dw.com/p/5OvcKSkip next section Melania Trump-brokered ceasefire for Kherson set to expire11/01/2026November 1, 2026

Melania Trump-brokered ceasefire for Kherson set to expire

Karl Sexton

Oleh Tarabaka, head of the Nova Kakhovka military administration, left, and Vadym, a Ukrainian sergeant of the 42nd Marine Brigade, right, help evacuate Antonina, a local resident, as they walk past a destroyed residential building in an area contaminated with anti-personnel mines — Some 750 civilians were due to be evacuated from Oleshky during the truce, Melania Trump had saidImage: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo/picture alliance

A ceasefire limited to the Kherson region in eastern Ukraine that was brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump was set to expire on Sunday evening, after neither Russia nor Ukraine announced an extension.

The rare truce, which began on Tuesday, is the longest since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The ceasefire allowed for a humanitarian mission to the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky.

While neither side reported violations of the ceasefire, Russian strikes continued overnight, with fresh power outages reported across Ukraine on Sunday, its energy ministry and president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Ukrainian strikes on the Russian-occupied region of Luhansk killed at least four people since Sunday evening, Russian-backed local authorities said.

Edited by:Kieran Burkehttps://p.dw.com/p/5OvacSkip next section Russian strikes leave vast numbers of Ukrainian homes without powerPublished 11/01/2026Published November 1, 2026last updated 11/01/2026last updated November 1, 2026

Russian strikes leave vast numbers of Ukrainian homes without power

Karl Sexton

Teenagers are looking at the city view during a partial power outages following Russian attacks — Power outages due to Russian attacks have become a regular occurrence for many UkrainiansImage: Tetiana Dzhafarova/AFP

Hundreds of thousands of households lost electricity after overnight Russian strikes hit energy infrastructure in four Ukrainian regions, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

In a post on X, the Ukrainian president said energy infrastructure in four regions — Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, and Khmelnytskyi — had been struck.

“Substations, transformers, and power lines that supply electricity to our people’s homes were targeted. Repair crews are working everywhere. As of now, hundreds of thousands of families remain without power,” Zelenskyy said Sunday.

He added that “massive Russian attacks on Ukraine’s other critical infrastructure are also continuing unabated.”

“The intensity of the strikes is very high,” he said, accusing Russia of seeking to exploit Ukraine’s shortage of interceptors used to shoot down ballistic missiles.

Zelenskyy repeated his call to the US, Europe and Ukraine’s other partners to do more to deliver missiles and other weaponry to better defend against the Russian attacks.

“These deliveries cannot take years. Russia is destroying infrastructure and killing our people right now, and it is betting on ballistic missiles this winter. Accordingly, decisions on air defense must also be implemented now,” the Ukrainian president said.

Edited by:Natalie Mullerhttps://p.dw.com/p/5OvESSkip next section Kremlin wants initial Ukraine talks without Europe11/01/2026November 1, 2026

Kremlin wants initial Ukraine talks without Europe

Russia wants the opening rounds of renewed peace negotiations to involve only Moscow, Kyiv and Washington, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.

Asked whether European countries should participate, Ushakov pointed to Russia’s existing contacts with the United States.

“We have working contacts with the Americans,” Interfax quoted him as saying. It was therefore “logical” for at least the first rounds to take place in a trilateral format, he added.

Edited by:Natalie Mullerhttps://p.dw.com/p/5OvFNSkip next section Russia reports major damage after drone attack near refinery11/01/2026November 1, 2026

Russia reports major damage after drone attack near refinery

A drone attack caused “significant damage” to an industrial facility east of Moscow, a Russian governor said, following Ukrainian reports of a strike on a major oil refinery.

Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin reported a “massive drone attack” overnight, saying more than 100 drones were destroyed. Preliminary information indicated no casualties, he added.

Nikitin did not identify the damaged facility. Ukrainian media reported that the target was the Kstovo oil refinery, describing it as one of Russia’s largest.

The reports could not be independently verified.

Authorities said they were taking steps to keep fuel available at gas stations.

Russia said Ukraine had resumed attacks on its refineries after a pause. US President Donald Trump had pressured Kyiv to stop such strikes, blaming them for rising diesel prices.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian oil and gas facilities in response to Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure.

Edited by:Natalie Mullerhttps://p.dw.com/p/5Ov5mSkip next section Welcome back to our live coverage11/01/2026November 1, 2026

Welcome back to our live coverage

Welcome back to our coverage. Follow the latest developments throughout the day.

Edited by:Natalie Mullerhttps://p.dw.com/p/5Ov5vSkip next section We’re pausing the blog for today11/01/2026November 1, 2026

We’re pausing the blog for today

Thank you for joining today. We’ll be back with the latest developments on Sunday.

Edited by:Roshni Majumdarhttps://p.dw.com/p/5OuozSkip next section IN PHOTOS: Evacuees reunite with family after fleeing Oleshky11/01/2026November 1, 2026

IN PHOTOS: Evacuees reunite with family after fleeing Oleshky

Srinivas Mazumdaru

Ukraine spent months demanding that Russia allow people to evacuate out of Oleshky in southern Ukraine, after food delivery supplies stopped earlier this year.

Hundreds of people made their way out on Saturday.

A resident evacuated from the Russian-controlled city of Oleshky during a humanitarian mission attaches a Ukrainian flag to her dog upon arriving at an undisclosed location in Ukraine on October 31, 2026 — Residents of Russian-occupied Oleshky crossed into Ukrainian-held territory on Saturday in a major evacuation operation carried out under a US-brokered ceasefire.Image: Genya Savilov/AFP

Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets (C) poses for a photo with residents evacuated from the Russian-controlled city of Oleshky during a humanitarian mission upon arriving at an undisclosed location in Ukraine on October 31, 2026 — Evacuees wrapped in blue and yellow Ukrainian flags stepped off buses at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border and reunited with family members.Image: Genya Savilov/AFP

An Ukrainian woman evacuated from Russian-occupied Oleshky — The ceasefire in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region began early Tuesday and was expected to continue through Sunday evening.Image: Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo/dpa/picture alliance

Edited by:Roshni Majumdarhttps://p.dw.com/p/5OuofSkip next section Wadephul says Europe and US are ‘on the same side’ on Russia10/31/2026October 31, 2026

Wadephul says Europe and US are ‘on the same side’ on Russia

Akanksha Saxena

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul speaks during a news conference following the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. — “Speaking to the Russian Foreign Minister is not a concession we’re making to Russia, but it is normal to speak,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told DW when asked about normalizing relations with Russia.Image: Michael Kappeler/dpa/picture alliance

At a news conference after the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta, DW correspondent Benjamin Alvarez Gruber asked German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul whether Sergey Lavrov‘s presence and the possibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin attending the G20 summit in Doral, Florida, in December signaled a normalization of relations with Russia.

Wadephul said the US and European countries were “on the same side.”

“Speaking to the Russian Foreign Minister is not a concession we’re making to Russia, but it is normal to speak,” he said, adding that foreign ministers must be prepared to engage even with adversaries.

“You don’t have to negotiate with partners, but you have to negotiate with somebody who has a different position and who’s somehow also an adversary to freedom and to security in Europe. So it is necessary that we speak, and for that reason I think it was useful,” Wadephul added.

The G20 foreign ministers skipped their traditional family photo at a meeting in Atlanta on Friday, amid objections from several European countries, Australia and Canada to appearing alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Wadephul said: “We are not in a position that it was necessary or useful or a good idea to have a family photo because in the very situation we are in, Russia does not really show an interest to share our values and to share our interests.”

The US State Department removed the photo from the agenda to prevent it from becoming a distraction or a spectacle.

Edited by:Kieran Burkehttps://p.dw.com/p/5OufGSkip next section Zelenskyy in Istanbul for talks on Black Sea shipping10/31/2026October 31, 2026

Zelenskyy in Istanbul for talks on Black Sea shipping

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in Istanbul for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with Black Sea shipping among the issues on the agenda.

“We’re working to strengthen the protection of our people, our bilateral partnership with Türkiye, and real diplomatic prospects,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, using the alternative spelling for Turkey.

The Ukrainian president also plans to meet Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Istanbul-based Orthodox Christian leader.

Edited by:Kieran Burkehttps://p.dw.com/p/5OtssSkip next section US warns Russia of a ‘mass casualty’ plot to attack Moscow10/31/2026October 31, 2026

US warns Russia of a ‘mass casualty’ plot to attack Moscow

The US embassy in Russia warned there was “a credible threat of a mass casualty event” at a historical site in southern Moscow.

“The US government is coordinating with appropriate Russian authorities on a response,” the US embassy in Moscow said in a post on X.

The alleged plot would target the Tsaritsyno Museum Reserve, a sprawling complex of palaces and gardens built under the orders of Empress Catherine the Great in the late 18th century.

Russia’s federal law enforcement agency, the FSB, said it received the warning and was doing “appropriate work” in response to it, according to Russian news agencies.

Edited by:Kieran Burkehttps://p.dw.com/p/5OuDeSkip next section Ukraine says it hit Russian rocket fuel factory10/31/2026October 31, 2026

Ukraine says it hit Russian rocket fuel factory

A satellite photo of a factory with a Ukrainian-language caption reading 'A strike on a rocket fuel plant' (October 31, 2026) — Ukrainian forces published satellite images showing the alleged impact of their attackImage: Generalstab der Streitkräfte der Ukraine/Telegram

Ukraine‘s military said it struck a factory producing solid rocket fuel in Russia’s Rostov region, setting a warehouse ablaze and damaging four production workshops.

The attack on the Kamensky plant in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky involved drones and Neptune missiles, according to the Ukrainian account.

The military said the plant supplies fuel for ammunition used by Russia’s Uragan, Smerch and Tornado-S multiple-launch rocket systems, as well as other missiles and air-launched weapons.

Ukraine also reported strikes on four Russian military supply depots in occupied parts of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk regions.

The claims have not been independently verified.

Edited by:Kieran Burkehttps://p.dw.com/p/5OtqzSkip next section Ukraine welcomes civilians from Oleshky after complex evacuation effort10/31/2026October 31, 2026

Ukraine welcomes civilians from Oleshky after complex evacuation effort

A woman draped in a Ukrainian flag ties a similar flag on her dog's back (October 31, 2026) — Ukrainian officials said evacuees brought pets, including dogs, cats, a parrot, and a racoonImage: Genya Savilov/AFP

The first evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky have reached Ukrainian-controlled territory amid a localized ceasefire.

Oleshky, near the front line in the southern Kherson region, has been occupied by Russia since 2022. In recent weeks, the town has faced a severe humanitarian crisis.

Both sides have recently agreed to a localized ceasefire to extract the estimated 2,000 civilians still in Oleshky, down from its pre-invasion population of 24,000.

Moscow and Kyiv credited the US first lady, Melania Trump, with brokering the truce.

Residents were given a choice to go to Russia or travel via Belarus to the part of Ukraine controlled by Kyiv.

Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said the initiative required “an enormous amount of work.”

He said evacuees included a 1-year-old baby and a 94-year-old resident of Oleshky. The evacuees brought pets, including dogs, cats, a parrot and a raccoon, according to Lubinets.

He expressed hope that the Oleshky arrangement can be replicated elsewhere.

The truce started on Tuesday and is due to end on Sunday night.

Edited by:Kieran Burkehttps://p.dw.com/p/5OtuJSkip next section Welcome to our coverage10/31/2026October 31, 2026