Russia-Ukraine War Update, Nov. 3: 365 Drones and Missiles Hit Ukraine’s Grid and a Kharkiv Hospital

Featured photo: Firefighters work at a building damaged by a Russian attack in Kharkiv, April 2024 (file photo). Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

Russia launched 289 attack drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles at Ukraine overnight, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, hitting power plants and substations in at least nine regions and a city hospital in Kharkiv where at least 73 people were injured, Al Jazeera reported. The attack came a day after Zelensky warned Russia was preparing a massive strike, and a day after a Russian strike on an aid distribution point in Zaporizhzhia region killed 29 people.

Key takeaways

1. Russia fired 365 drones and missiles overnight, per Zelensky’s figures (TBR calculation: 289 + 17 + 59); Ukraine had not published interception totals at our cutoff.
2. A Kharkiv hospital’s cardiology department was damaged and more than 1,000 windows shattered, with at least 73 injured (see Kharkiv).
3. More than 180,000 people lost power in Zhytomyr region, and Odesa introduced scheduled outages (see The grid).
4. The Kherson truce has ended; a strike on an aid site in Zaporizhzhia region killed 29, including two rescuers and four police officers.
5. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said U.S.-mediated working-level talks with Russia and Ukraine will be held in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11.

By the numbers: Nov. 3

Daily totals, claimed Russian losses and UN-verified civilian casualties are on our Ukraine war tracker, with month-by-month trends in our Ukraine war charts.

Kharkiv hospital hit

Russia struck a city clinical hospital in Kharkiv, damaging the cardiology department where patients were being treated, Zelensky said. Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the hospital was heavily damaged and more than 1,000 windows were shattered, Al Jazeera reported. Earlier reports from Euronews said about 200 patients were evacuated.

The grid

Zelensky said the main target was energy: power generation and substations in the Odesa, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Chernivtsi, Chernihiv and Rivne regions. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it targeted electricity facilities supplying the Ukrainian army and military plants in Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions [!Unverified claim, Russian Defense Ministry]. Zhytomyr Governor Vitalii Bunechko said more than 180,000 people were without power Tuesday morning, and Odesa introduced scheduled outages.

Zaporizhzhia and the end of the Kherson truce

A strike on a village in Zaporizhzhia region, hours after a local truce ended, killed 29 people, including two rescue workers and four police officers, Euronews reported. Regional chief Ivan Fedorov said Russia hit people who came to receive humanitarian aid, and Zelensky said the site was a school distributing aid. The Kherson pause, the longest of the war, allowed a humanitarian mission to occupied Oleshky; a senior Ukrainian official told AFP that Russia rejected an offer to extend it. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the Oleshky mission a success and said no similar missions are planned.

Ukraine strikes back

Two workers were injured when a Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire at an oil refinery in Yaroslavl, Governor Mikhail Yevrayev said, according to Al Jazeera. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed nearly 500 drones heading for the Moscow region were destroyed [!Unverified claim, Moscow mayor]. Yesterday’s Ukrainian strike on a Samara oil hub is in Zelensky Warns Russia Is Preparing a Massive Strike.

Poland and the eastern flank

Poland activated air defenses to protect its airspace, especially in border areas, during the attack, Euronews reported. Separately, Poland launched a preventive security operation on its Kaliningrad border after warnings that armed groups could try to cross, United24 reported; details are in our report on the Kaliningrad border. NATO force positions are on our military deployment tracker.

Diplomacy

Witkoff said working-level talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials, mediated by the U.S., will be held in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11 and will cover post-war security, de-escalation and humanitarian issues. U.S. negotiators will also meet France, Germany, the U.K., the EU and NATO in Brussels this week on security guarantees and reconstruction, Al Jazeera reported. For background, see our Ukraine Russia war guide.

Statements by officials

Paraphrased unless in quotation marks. Statements by governments that are parties to a conflict are their own claims.

What to watch

• Ukraine’s Air Force interception figures for the overnight attack.
• Repairs and outage schedules across the nine regions hit.
• The Brussels meetings this week and the Abu Dhabi talks on Nov. 10-11.
• Any incidents on Poland’s Kaliningrad border.

More from the TBR War Room today

• Middle East War Update, Nov. 3: U.S. Hits Iranian Missile Launcher on Qeshm as Iran Claims 3 Tankers Struck Mines
• Indo-Pacific Security Update, Nov. 3: Taiwan Tracks 49 Chinese Military Aircraft, the Most This Year
• Americas Security Update, Nov. 3: Rubio Presses Venezuela on a Phased Transition as Cuba’s Grid Falls 1,900 MW Short
• Africa Security Update, Nov. 3: Drones Knock Out Sudan Substations as Khartoum Takes Ethiopia to the UN

Sources

• Al Jazeera: At least 73 injured as Russia bombs Ukrainian hospital and power plants
• Euronews: Russia pounds Ukraine with 289 drones and 17 ballistic missiles in overnight strikes
• United24: Poland launches special operation on Kaliningrad border

TBR War Room reports are compiled with AI assistance from the sources listed and reviewed against our editorial standards.