Kyiv Loses Water After Russian Grid Strikes Knock Out 3 of 5 DTEK Power Plants; Zelensky Wins Winter Aid Pledge in Berlin

Featured photo: People shelter in the Kyiv Metro during an air alert, Jan. 20, 2026 (file photo). Photo: Kyiv City State Administration, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

Kyiv temporarily lost water service on Tuesday, Nov. 3, after power cuts stopped pumping equipment, and three of energy company DTEK’s five thermal power plants stopped generating after Russia’s overnight attack on Ukraine’s grid, Forbes reported, citing Kyivvodokanal and DTEK. President Volodymyr Zelensky flew to Berlin, where Chancellor Friedrich Merz promised more air defense and energy aid before winter.

Daily strike counts, claimed Russian losses and civilian casualties are on our Ukraine war tracker, and the full overnight picture is in this morning’s Russia-Ukraine War Update.

Water and power cuts

The overnight attack targeted power generation and transmission in nine regions and caused damage in 14, Forbes reported. Kyivvodokanal said water service in the capital was interrupted because outages shut down pumping equipment, and emergency power cuts were introduced. In Kharkiv, disruptions hit heating, hot water and some public transport. An aerial bomb on a large Kharkiv hospital injured 73 people, and more than 200 patients were moved to other hospitals.

Death toll rises in Zaporizhzhia region

Russian airstrikes on Komyshuvakha in Zaporizhzhia region on Nov. 2 killed at least 33 people, including four police officers and two emergency workers, with five injured and nearly 50 still missing, Forbes reported, citing Ukrainska Pravda. In Dnipro, attacks on Tuesday killed at least one person and injured 17, regional authorities said. In Sloviansk, two aerial bombs killed a 68-year-old woman and injured six on Nov. 2.

Zelensky in Berlin

Zelensky met Merz in Berlin as the two-day Berlin Security Conference opened, with talks on air defense, energy and coordination before U.S.-led negotiations, Forbes reported. At a joint press conference, Merz said Germany would provide an additional winter aid package by the end of 2026 and is discussing more air defense deliveries with several countries, UA.News reported; no amounts or systems were named. Berlin will host a coalition of the willing meeting in mid-November, and a German-Ukrainian economic forum on reconstruction is set for Nov. 20.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff has said trilateral talks will be held in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11, the Kyiv Independent reported. Background on the negotiations is in our Russia Ukraine war guide.

Ukraine hits Russian refineries

A drone attack overnight caused a fire and damage at the Slavneft-YANOS refinery in Yaroslavl, which processes about 15 million metric tons of crude a year, and two workers were injured, Governor Mikhail Yevrayev said, according to Forbes. Ukrainian officials said their forces also struck the Lukoil refinery in Kstovo overnight into Nov. 1, which we covered in the Kstovo refinery strike.

The war economy

Ukraine’s industrial output in September was 9.2% below a year earlier, and output for January through September fell 1.9%, according to State Statistics Service data reported by Forbes Ukraine. Russian forces have attacked major mining and metals plants at least 30 times this year, damaging or destroying seven blast furnaces.

Poland on alert

Next door, Poland said it stopped a possible provocation on its Kaliningrad border overnight, as we report in Poland says it foiled a “flashlight” provocation. NATO force positions are on our military deployment tracker, and running figures are in our Ukrainian war stats.

Sources

• Forbes: Tuesday, November 3. Russia’s War On Ukraine
• UA.News: Merz promised Ukraine additional aid for air defense and the energy sector ahead of winter
• Kyiv Independent: Zelensky arrives in Berlin for meeting with German Chancellor