Russian Drones Leave 300,000 Ukrainian Homes Dark as Kyiv Hits a Rocket-Fuel Plant in Rostov

A street in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov region, Russia (file photo; not the plant). Photo: GennadyL, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

Russia sent 134 attack and decoy drones into Ukraine overnight into October 31, and strikes on substations and a heat plant left almost 300,000 households without electricity, while Ukraine said its Neptune missiles and drones hit the Kamensky rocket fuel plant in Russia’s Rostov region. Ukraine’s Air Force said 105 of the drones were shot down or jammed by 8:30 a.m. Kyiv time, 49 of them jet-powered Shaheds, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Key figures: 134 russian drones launched overnight · 105 downed or jammed, per ukraine’s air force · ~300,000 households left without power

Power cuts in Dnipro and Kyiv regions

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks damaged four electrical substations in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, a combined heat and power plant in Shostka, rail facilities in Dnipro and Kharkiv, and a gas site, according to Ukrainska Pravda. About 200,000 households in the Dnipro area and more than 80,000 in Kyiv Oblast lost power. The energy company DTEK said one Dnipro facility was hit again after crews had spent almost two days repairing it, the outlet reported.

On the evening of October 30, a strike on an energy facility in Kyiv cut electricity to parts of four districts and lowered water pressure across the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, Ukrainska Pravda reported. Russia also hit Dnipro’s railway station for a second straight day, injuring a woman, according to the state railway. Ukrzaliznytsia named five employees killed in the October 29 strike on the same station while helping passengers evacuate; our earlier report on the Dnipro station death toll covers that attack.

Regional officials reported five people killed and at least 46 injured over the past day, The Kyiv Independent reported. In Sloviansk, a 73-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy traveling with his parents were among the dead. Zaporizhzhia Oblast’s governor counted 935 Russian attacks on 51 settlements in one day, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Ukraine’s strike on the Kamensky plant

Ukraine’s General Staff said Neptune missiles and drones struck the Kamensky Plant in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, setting a warehouse on fire and damaging four production workshops, Ukrainska Pravda reported. The General Staff said the plant makes solid rocket fuel for Uragan, Smerch and Tornado-S multiple rocket launchers and other missiles. Russia had not confirmed damage in the sources checked.

Drones also attacked Ufa, where the Russian outlet Astra said the Bashneft-Novoil refinery’s catalytic reforming unit appeared to be burning; there was no independent confirmation, Ukrainska Pravda noted. Satellite images released by Ukrainian analysts showed two Su-34 bombers destroyed at Marinovka air base, matching a Ukrainian Navy claim from October 29, the outlet reported. Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps said its drones destroyed a Russian Mi-8 helicopter after it landed in occupied Luhansk Oblast.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses destroyed two drones heading for the capital, TASS reported !Unverified claim, TASS (Russian state media). Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its drones hit a dry cargo ship 18 kilometers south of Odesa that it said carried military cargo !Unverified claim, Russian Defense Ministry (Russian state); Ukraine had not confirmed a strike. Kaliningrad also lost power and mobile internet shortly before midnight local time, and authorities gave no cause, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

By the numbers

Of the 134 drones, 29 were not reported downed or jammed, or about 22%, TBR calculations from Air Force figures. That compares with 113 drones launched and 96 downed the night before, when about 15% got through, according to the figures in our Oct. 30 report. The night’s attack was 21 drones larger, an increase of about 19%. The Air Force recorded hits at 20 locations and falling debris at 10 more; those counts are places, not munitions.

Money, missiles and talks

The European Commission has prepared a mechanism to release the remaining €45 billion of its €90 billion loan to Ukraine in 2027, Reuters reported, according to Ukrainska Pravda. Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, pledged an initial €500 million toward the Ukraine Support Loan as Kyiv faces a 2027 budget gap of at least €70 billion, The Kyiv Independent reported. The State Department’s approval of 500 Patriot interceptors, with deliveries reportedly not expected before 2030, is covered in our Patriot sale story.

The last of four planes carrying people evacuated from occupied Oleshky landed in Gomel, Belarus, and lawmaker Davyd Arakhamia said the evacuees would reach Ukrainian territory within hours, Ukrainska Pravda reported. Volunteers told hromadske that Russian forces removed bodies and cleaned streets before journalists arrived, the outlet reported.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said a Russia-US-Ukraine meeting in Abu Dhabi “will be set for November,” TASS reported !Unverified claim, TASS (Russian state media). Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow opposes “a ceasefire that will give Ukrainians a respite.” At the G20 in Atlanta, which skipped its family photo after European ministers declined to pose with Sergey Lavrov, according to The Kyiv Independent, Rubio opened a plenary focused on navigation and food security, the State Department said. Our G20 live updates follow the meeting.

Watch for repairs to Dnipro and Kyiv power systems as temperatures fall, the date of the Abu Dhabi meeting, and any Russian acknowledgment of damage at Kamensk-Shakhtinsky. Today’s space war report covers a Ukrainian arms maker’s claims about working around Starlink limits.

Sources

• Ukrainska Pravda: Russian forces attack Ukraine with 134 drones overnight, with hits recorded at 20 locations
• Ukrainska Pravda: Zelenskyy: Almost 300,000 households without power after Russian strikes on Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv oblasts
• Ukrainska Pravda: Russia strikes Dnipropetrovsk Oblast energy facilities again, leaving residents without power
• Ukrainska Pravda: Russians attack energy facility in Kyiv, leaving parts of city without power and water
• Ukrainska Pravda: Russia hits Dnipro railway station for second consecutive day
• The Kyiv Independent: Russian attacks kill 5, injure at least 46 as Ukraine faces 'difficult' energy situation
• Ukrainska Pravda: Russians launch 935 attacks on Zaporizhzhia Oblast over past day: one killed and two injured
• Ukrainska Pravda: Ukraine strikes Russian rocket fuel plant with Neptune missiles and drones – General Staff
• Ukrainska Pravda: Oil refinery in Russia's Ufa on fire after drone attack, key unit believed hit
• Ukrainska Pravda: Satellite imagery confirms destruction of two Su-34 jets at Marinovka airfield in Russia
• Ukrainska Pravda: Russia's Kaliningrad and surrounding areas hit by power cuts and mobile internet disruptions
• Ukrainska Pravda: Reuters: European Commission prepares mechanism to release remaining €45bn of loan funds to Ukraine in 2027
• The Kyiv Independent: Canada pledges 500 million euros toward Ukraine support loan amid 2027 budget shortfall
• Ukrainska Pravda: Ukrainians evacuated from Oleshky will be back in Ukraine within hours
• Ukrainska Pravda: Russians tidied streets and removed bodies in Oleshky ahead of journalists' visit
• The Kyiv Independent: G20 family photo allegedly canceled over Russian presence
• US Department of State: Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a Plenary Session on Geopolitical Issues

Additional sources

• TASS: Russian air defenses intercept two drones heading for Moscow
• TASS: Russian Defense Ministry claim on cargo vessel near Odesa
• TASS: Kremlin on dates for trilateral meeting
• TASS: Kremlin opposes ceasefire as respite
• Ukrainska Pravda: Five railway employees killed at Dnipro station
• Ukrainska Pravda: Mi-8 helicopter destroyed in Luhansk Oblast