Ukraine War, Nov. 5: 200+ Drones Target Ryazan; Russia Claims Strikes on Postal Hub, Ship

Gas flare at the Ryazan oil refinery in Russia (file photo). Photo: Svtk44 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Ukraine hit Russia’s Ryazan region with more than 200 drones overnight into Thursday, Nov. 5, setting off fires at industrial sites, while Russia said it struck a Ukrainian postal terminal near Kharkiv, a power substation and a cargo ship in the Black Sea, Al Jazeera reported. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, put Russian personnel losses since February 2022 at about 1.6 million, a figure that is Ukraine’s claim and is unverified.

Ryazan refinery strike and Russia’s overnight claims

Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov said more than 200 Ukrainian drones attacked the region overnight. Falling debris started fires at several industrial sites and damaged power lines, cutting electricity to parts of the city, and one person was injured, according to Al Jazeera. Malkov later said power had been restored and the fires put out or contained, but he did not name the sites. Footage verified by the independent outlet Astra showed a fire at the Ryazan oil refinery, which is owned by Rosneft and is among Russia’s largest. Windows were shattered at a local school, and classes were cancelled.

Al Jazeera’s Moscow correspondent said Ukraine had “intensified its strikes on Russian oil refineries” after a short pause in late October. The Yaroslavl refinery was attacked two days earlier.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its drones hit a terminal of Nova Poshta, Ukraine’s largest private delivery company, in Novyi Korotych outside Kharkiv. It also said it struck a 330-kilovolt substation in the Dnipropetrovsk region and a dry cargo ship carrying military equipment about 52 km (32 miles) southwest of Odesa. These are Russian claims that could not be independently verified, and Ukrainian officials did not immediately confirm the postal terminal or ship strikes.

Russian attacks on Ukraine

Ukraine’s Air Force said that from 6 p.m. on Nov. 4, Russia launched 128 Shahed-type strike drones, 65 of them jet-powered, along with decoy drones and two Kh-35 missiles fired from the Black Sea, Interfax-Ukraine reported. It said 105 drones were shot down or suppressed, with hits recorded at 18 locations and falling debris at nine.

• Kharkiv: Governor Oleh Syniehubov said Russia attacked the city and 17 settlements with more than 80 drones over the past day, injuring six people, including a child.
• Donetsk: Governor Vadym Filashkin said Russian attacks killed four civilians and injured five on Wednesday, in Serhiivka and Yasnohirka.
• Kyiv region: Drones caused large overnight fires in the Bucha district, where a logistics center was targeted and one person was injured.

The death toll from Monday’s Russian strike on an aid distribution point in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, reached at least 40 on Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera, citing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who called it a “vile terrorist strike.” He said more people may still be under the rubble.

This Nov. 5 day update follows TBR’s Nov. 4 Russia-Ukraine war update. For running totals, losses and the civilian toll, see TBR’s Ukraine War Tracker.

Russian losses as of Nov. 5: what Ukraine claims

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said, citing the General Staff, that Russia has lost about 1,599,390 personnel since Feb. 24, 2022, including 2,380 in the past day. Russia does not publish comparable figures, and the numbers are Ukraine’s claims. The ministry’s other totals include:

• 12,454 tanks (+1) and 25,643 armored fighting vehicles (+3)
• 51,902 artillery systems (+23) and 2,254 multiple rocket launchers (+2)
• 1,738 air defense systems (+5)
• 596,221 operational-tactical drones (+1,163)
• 170,256 vehicles and fuel tanks (+375)
• 452 aircraft, 356 helicopters, 35 warships and boats and 2 submarines

To see how these claimed losses have changed since 2022, alongside outside estimates, see TBR’s Ukraine war charts.

What ISW says

The Institute for the Study of War’s Nov. 4 assessment, republished by Kyiv Post, said Russia’s overnight drone campaign on Nov. 3-4 focused heavily on energy targets in central and western Ukraine and caused significant outages across the country. ISW said Russia’s winter strike campaign keeps damaging critical infrastructure and the economy through repeated, precise strikes. It also said Ukrainian forces kept up long-range strikes on Ozon marketplace warehouses inside Russia, and that Russian forces recently advanced in northwestern Kostyantynivka.

Diplomacy: Abu Dhabi talks set for Nov. 10-11

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said Ukrainian and Russian delegations will hold U.S.-mediated, working-level talks in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11, Anadolu Agency reported. He said the agenda includes post-war security arrangements, de-escalation and humanitarian steps, and that U.S. negotiators would also meet European and NATO officials in Brussels this week on security guarantees for Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the Democrats’ midterm win in Congress an internal U.S. matter. “We sincerely hope that he will also continue his peacemaking efforts,” he said of President Trump, Al Jazeera reported. The same report said Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it downed 709 Ukrainian drones over 14 regions, a figure that could not be independently verified. More conflict coverage is on TBR’s war news hub.

Figures are as of the morning of Nov. 5, 2026, Kyiv time, and may change. Loss totals are claims by a party to the war.

Sources

• Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: Total Russian combat losses in Ukraine as of November 5, 2026
• Al Jazeera: Russia says it hit Ukrainian postal hub and ship as Ukraine strikes Ryazan
• Interfax-Ukraine: Air Force report on overnight drone and missile attack, Nov. 5
• Al Jazeera: Ukraine raises death toll from Russian strike on Zaporizhia to 40 people
• Kyiv Post: ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November 4, 2026
• Anadolu Agency: US to mediate Ukraine-Russia working-level peace talks in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11
• Al Jazeera: Ukrainian strikes kill three in Russia’s Belgorod region