Zelensky Warns Russia Is Preparing a Massive Strike After 364 Drones in a Day; Ukraine Hits Samara Oil Hub Again

Featured photo: The Darnytska Combined Heat and Power Plant in Kyiv after a Russian attack on Feb. 3, 2026 (file photo). Photo: Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday night, Nov. 2, that Russia is preparing a new massive strike on Ukraine aimed mainly at energy infrastructure and logistics, and that Moscow is counting on the world’s attention shifting to the U.S. midterm elections on Tuesday, LIGA.net reported from his evening address. The warning came after Russia launched 364 attack drones at Ukraine in roughly 25 hours, while Ukrainian drones hit an oil transport hub deep inside Russia for the fifth time in a month.

For the running totals behind these numbers, including the day count, claimed Russian losses and UN-verified civilian casualties, see our Ukraine war tracker.

What Zelensky said

“Russia is preparing a new massive strike on our country,” Zelensky said, citing intelligence, according to LIGA.net. He said the attack would target energy and logistics, and that talks on air defense shortages and Patriot missile supplies were getting little international attention. He said Ukraine would respond, and urged partners, including the United States, to make clear to Moscow that attacks bring it no gains and to squeeze Russia’s oil revenues.

In a Fox News interview, Zelensky repeated that Ukraine would stop attacking Russian refineries if Russia stopped striking Ukraine’s power grid, The Moscow Times reported. He also said Ukraine had hit the Kamensky plant in Rostov, which he said makes Russian missiles.

364 Russian drones in about 25 hours

Russia launched 193 drones overnight, from 6 p.m. on Nov. 1, including 75 jet-powered Shaheds, along with Gerbera attack drones and Parody decoys, Ukraine’s Air Force said, as Ukrainska Pravda reported. Ukraine said it destroyed or jammed 154 of them by 8 a.m., but recorded hits at 26 locations and falling debris at nine more. The drones were launched from Oryol, Kursk and Bryansk in Russia, occupied Donetsk Oblast and Hvardiiske in Crimea.

A daytime attack followed. From about 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Russia launched 171 attack drones, 103 of them jet-powered, and 10 S8000 Banderol/Dan-T missiles, Ukraine’s General Staff said, according to Ukrinform. Ukraine said it downed or suppressed 139 drones and 8 missiles, with about 20 drones still in the air when it reported.

Together, that is 364 drones in roughly 25 hours, of which Ukraine reported downing or jamming 293, or about 80% (TBR calculation from the two reports). The pace follows October, when Russia fired more than 8,700 drones at Ukraine, as we reported.

Ukraine hits a Samara oil hub again

Ukrainian drones struck a Transneft pumping and dispatch station southeast of Samara overnight, The Moscow Times reported, citing the exiled outlet Astra, which identified the site from eyewitness photos. The station covers 216 hectares, holds 71 storage tanks with 1.6 million cubic meters of capacity and receives crude through four pipelines before sending it to two refineries and the Druzhba export pipeline. It was the fifth reported strike on the station, after attacks on Oct. 2, 7, 10 and 11.

Local authorities confirmed an overnight attack but gave no details on damage. Samara Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said air defenses were repelling an attack and asked residents not to post photos or video, and Samara’s Kurumoch airport halted flights for two hours, The Moscow Times reported. NASA satellite imagery showed a large black plume over the area.

The strike came a day after Ukraine hit the Kstovo area of Nizhny Novgorod, where the governor reported “significant damage” to an industrial site; we covered that strike in Kstovo refinery strike: third Russian fuel site hit in three nights.

What Moscow says

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted 212 Ukrainian drones over Russia and annexed Crimea between Sunday evening and Monday morning [!Unverified claim, Russian Defense Ministry], according to The Moscow Times. Authorities in Belgorod, Voronezh and Rostov reported minor damage and injuries.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in a Vesti interview that Ukraine’s refinery strikes were adding to imbalances in global fuel markets and affecting prices, The Moscow Times reported. Novak also told Russian state TV that Ukraine had hit three oil refineries and a gas-chemical complex since resuming strikes, Agence France-Presse reported. Despite a U.S. push for an energy ceasefire, both sides have kept striking power and oil sites.

What to watch

Zelensky did not give a date for the strike he warned of. Ukraine’s Air Force posts daily counts of launched and downed drones, and we add them to our Ukrainian war stats page as they are released. For month-by-month trends in drone and missile attacks, see our Ukraine war charts.

Sources

• LIGA.net: Is there a threat of a massive Russian attack? Zelenskyy’s statement on November 2, 2026
• The Moscow Times: Ukrainian Drones Hit Major Oil Transport Hub in Samara Region
• Ukrainska Pravda via Yahoo News: Ukraine downs 154 Russian drones overnight, with hits recorded at 26 locations
• Ukrinform: ADF neutralizes 139 drones, eight ‘Banderol’ missiles during Russian daytime attack
• AFP via Daily Tribune: Drone hits ‘industrial enterprise,’ Kyiv claims bombing major refinery