The battle over Ukraine’s Pokrovsk rages as both Russia and Ukraine continue to hit each other’s energy infrastructure.
Published On 2 Nov 2025
Here is how things stand on Sunday, November 2, 2025:
Fighting
- At least four civilians have been killed and 51 injured across Ukraine by Russian attacks, according to local officials.
- A strike blamed on Russia hit a shop in the Samariivskyi district of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, killing two and injuring multiple people, regional military chief Vladyslav Haivanenko said.
- The Ukrainian military has said Russian forces launched four missiles and dropped 139 guided bombs over the past day, as well as thousands of shells and drones.
- Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its air defences intercepted 164 Ukrainian drones, including 39 over the Black Sea and 26 over Crimea, overnight.
- Fighting continues to intensify near the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, with the Russian army saying its forces destroyed Ukrainian military formations near the railway station.
- Oleksandr Syrskii, Ukraine’s top military commander, said Ukrainian troops were facing a “multi-thousand enemy” force in Pokrovsk, but rejected Russian claims that they were surrounded or blocked.
- Ukraine confirmed that its special forces had been deployed to protect key supply lines in Pokrovsk, while Russia claimed Ukrainian troops were surrendering and some of the special forces were killed while landing in a helicopter.
- Ukraine’s military intelligence announced a strike on the Koltsevoy fuel pipeline near Moscow, claiming all three lines were destroyed.
- A drone attack by Ukraine reportedly hit an oil terminal pier and a tanker in Tuapse town, located on the northeast shore of the Black Sea, setting fire to port infrastructure.
Politics
- Ukraine condemned Russia’s attacks on key energy infrastructure. Its Foreign Ministry accused Moscow of carrying out strikes on a power substation feeding nuclear power plants in “nuclear terrorism”.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that its inspectors visited a substation critical to nuclear safety and security in Ukraine, and reported damage “as a result of recent military activities”.
- In a statement on Friday, G7 energy ministers condemned Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, saying they are affecting civilians.
- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on Friday that his foreign intelligence service has identified 339 Ukrainian children who have been allegedly abducted by Russia.
Regional security
- Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told the Reuters news agency he is confident that the country’s governing coalition can agree on a new model of military service for implementation next year as planned.
- An unidentified drone was spotted over the Kleine Brogel Air Base in Belgium on Saturday, the second such sighting over the previous 24 hours.