Strike on an underground school in Komyshuvakha: 31 dead, up to 59 missing

Civilian casualties of russian strikes on 2–3 November and the nights into 3 and 4 November, as reported by the authorities; the data are incomplete and may rise. The reports cover different periods, so they are not added up:

• Komyshuvakha (Zaporizhzhia region), 2.11 — at least 31 killed (bodies recovered from the rubble; 33 according to a statement on 3.11), 5 injured, 48–59 missing; nine aerial bombs on an underground school where humanitarian aid was handed out; two rescuers and four police officers among the dead (regional governor Ivan Fedorov, Telegram, via Inform ZP 09:14 4.11; AFP)
• Dnipro, night into 3.11 — 2 killed, about 20 injured; railway infrastructure damaged (Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi, via Reuters)
• Khotiv (Obukhiv district, Kyiv region), 3.11 — 1 killed (a 14-year-old child), one parent probably injured; a drone hit a private house, which was completely destroyed (regional governor Tymur Tkachenko, via Ukrinform 15:00 3.11)
• Kramatorsk (Donetsk region), 3.11 at 11:33 — 1 killed (a woman), 5 injured (including her two sons, aged 29 and 40); four aerial bombs (Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office, via Ukrinform 16:43 3.11)
• Kharkiv, night into 3.11 — from 62 to more than 70 injured (25 were reported on the morning of 3.11); a strike on a hospital, about 200 patients need evacuating; the materials read report no deaths (Mayor Ihor Terekhov and local authorities; for the differing figures see “Divergences”)
• Kherson region, 3.11 — 7 injured; Zhytomyr region — 3 injured (drone attack on a farm business); Sumy region — a woman injured on a road (drones) (Ukrinform overview, 3.11)

Komyshuvakha (Zaporizhzhia region), 2 November. By 09:14 on 4.11 rescuers had recovered 31 bodies from the rubble and identified 12 of the dead; 59 people are listed as missing (some may be among those already found), and preliminary estimates suggest up to 38 more people may be under the rubble (Fedorov). russia bombed the underground school on the site of the Dzherelo grammar school twice — it housed a community resilience hub and handed out humanitarian aid once a week: first a FAB-500, then a FAB-3000; nine aerial bombs in all, according to Fedorov. The concrete ceiling collapsed. On 3.11 Fedorov spoke of more than 33 dead, 5 injured and more than 50 missing, while the acting head of the regional administration Mykhailo Semikin gave 29 dead and 48 missing (Il Sole 24 Ore). The search is sometimes paused for fear of follow-up strikes. The region declared mourning, initially for 3–5 November. Fedorov: underground schools are not designed to withstand a direct hit by a munition this powerful.

Kharkiv, night into 3 November: ballistic missiles and guided aerial bombs hit a hospital. Injured: 62 according to the local authorities (Mayor Ihor Terekhov, according to Il Sole 24 Ore), more than 70 according to Ukrainian media and the French foreign ministry; on the morning of 3.11 regional governor Oleh Syniehubov gave 25. About 200 patients need evacuating. The materials read contain no final official count.

201 combat clashes on 3 November — in line with the weekly average (206); once again the most attacks came on the Kostiantynivka direction (24), with 15 on Pokrovsk. This is the General Staff’s evening report (as of 22:00 on 3.11, Ukrinform 22:27) — the morning report for 4.11 could not be read — so the other figures may be incomplete, and we do not compare them with full days: 50 air strikes with 160 guided bombs (KABs), one missile strike, 3,910 kamikaze drones, 1,865 shelling attacks. The named directions account for 68 of the 201 attacks; separately the General Staff mentions 12 assaults on the North Slobozhanskyi and Kursk directions (ambiguous wording, not added to the chart) and 130 shelling attacks there (3 with multiple rocket launchers). Attacks by direction:

• Kostiantynivka — 24 (three battles still under way)
• Pokrovsk — 15
• Sloviansk — 8 (Yampil, Ozerne, Pyskunivka, Starodubove, Mykolaivka)
• Huliaipole — 6
• Lyman — 5
• South Slobozhanskyi — 5 (Vovchansk, Radkivka)
• Orikhiv — 3
• Kramatorsk — 2 (Nykonorivka, Malynivka)
• Kupiansk, Oleksandrivka and Prydniprovskyi — no assaults

2,180 troops in the 24 hours to the morning of 4 November — 17% above the weekly average (1,856), according to Ukraine’s General Staff; 408 vehicles and fuel tankers, the most since 25.10. Cumulative total about 1,597,010. No independent confirmation, figures being updated. Losses by category:

• Tanks — 1 (12,453 in total)
• Armoured fighting vehicles — 7 (25,640)
• Artillery systems — 39 (51,879)
• MLRS — no increase (2,252)
• Air defence systems — 2 (1,733)
• Operational-tactical drones — 1,104 (595,058)
• Cruise missiles — 52 (5,192)
• Vehicles and fuel tankers — 408 (169,881)
• Unmanned ground vehicles — 5 (3,072); special equipment — 4 (4,871)
• Aircraft, helicopters, ships — unchanged

Near Kozacha Lopan, a village in the Kharkiv region on the russian border, the enemy advanced slightly in the “grey zone” (grouping spokesman Nazar Trehubov, Ukrinform 13:58 3.11). Operational Command South warns that russian troops may try again to land near Korabel, an island district of Kherson (Ukrinform 11:51 3.11). The materials read contain no losses or liberations of settlements confirmed by the General Staff over the past day.

310 attack drones on the night into 4 November — fewer than the night before (348 drones and missiles) but 52% above the weekly average (204); the Air Force report mentions no missiles. 272 were shot down or suppressed (88%); hits at 19 locations, debris at 15, and more than 20 drones were still in the air (as of 08:00). Of the 310, 81 were jet-powered; Shaheds, Gerbera and Parodiya decoys are not counted separately. Launched from the directions of Oryol, Kursk, Shatalovo, Millerovo, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, occupied Donetsk region and Hvardiiske in Crimea. During the day on 3.11 air defence downed another 62 drones (Ukrinform 19:34).

⚡Night into 3 November: an attack on the power grid. According to Zelensky (via Reuters), russia fired 289 drones, 17 ballistic and 59 cruise missiles at power plants and substations from the Odesa region to the Rivne region — yesterday we had only the Air Force report, without the number of ballistic missiles. Energy ministry: strikes in 10 regions; three of the five thermal power plants of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, shut down; emergency blackouts in Kyiv and the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, water supply and transport disrupted in Kyiv, heating points opened; an Ukrenergo substation damaged in the Rivne region. Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said three drones were heading for a substation critical to the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant. 257 drones, 3 ballistic and 49 cruise missiles were shot down, with hits at 23 locations (Ukrinform overview).

🔥unverified📏 705 km from Ukrainian-held territory ≈Night into 3 November, Yaroslavl: a drone strike on the Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery, a large fire. From photos and videos, the Telegram channels Exilenova+ and Astra counted at least five large and two smaller seats of fire (via Suspilne 08:12 3.11). Local authorities: Governor Yevrayev acknowledged a fire at an “enterprise” and damage to infrastructure but called it only a “facility” — a partial confirmation of the damage without naming the target. No official confirmation from the General Staff, SBU, HUR, SSO, USF or others in the materials read; Zelensky on 3.11 confirmed in general terms that strikes on russian refineries had resumed (PBS, via Ukrinform 12:24), without naming this one. Local authorities alone are not confirmation.

local authorities: indirectLocal authorities (Yaroslavl regional governor Mikhail Yevrayev, 3.11 (update at 11:10)): confirmed a fire at an enterprise and damage to infrastructure after a drone attack, two workers with shrapnel wounds, 124 drones over the region; did not name the refinery

🔥unverifiedNight into 1 November, Kstovo (Nizhny Novgorod region): according to a Ukrinform overview (3.11), the Kstovo refinery reportedly suffered significant damage. No confirmation from the General Staff or other Ukrainian bodies in the materials read; no statements by local authorities found — the “silent” verdict only means nothing was found, not a denial.

local authorities silentLocal authorities (Nizhny Novgorod region authorities, 1.11): statements for this date on Kstovo were not searched for and not found in the materials read

💥Ukraine’s defence ministry said on 4.11 (00:34) that in October Ukrainian forces hit at least 30 strategic targets in russia: seven defence-industry plants, three military airfields, Su-34 aircraft, radar stations and logistics. This is an overall tally without dates or coordinates of individual strikes; not independently verified. No new “strike results” from the General Staff over the past day in the materials read; no other new confirmations from the General Staff, SBU, HUR, SSO or USF for 3.11.

unverifiedrussia is losing up to 40,000 troops a month on average this year, according to Ukrainian intelligence (Ukrinform, 3.11 12:39). No method or underlying data given; not independently verified.

unverifiedA UN special rapporteur, in an exclusive interview with Ukrinform (3.11, 21:15): russia is sending migrants, asylum seekers and convicts to fight against Ukraine. No new numerical estimate of recruitment was added in this issue.

Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal called the attack by three drones on a substation critical to the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant a threat to nuclear safety across Europe (Reuters, 3.11). No assessments from the IAEA or British Defence Intelligence ( UK MoD) for the past day found.

🤝Abu Dhabi, 10–11 November. US special envoy Steve Witkoff (post on X): the US will mediate technical-level talks between Ukraine and russia in Abu Dhabi; the topics are post-war security guarantees, de-escalation and humanitarian issues; he wants to build on “progress” made in Kyiv, Oslo and St Petersburg. Zelensky on 3.11 at a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin: the US wants to discuss security guarantees and a reconstruction package; Ukraine wants an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, unblocking the Black Sea, an “all for all” prisoner exchange and preparation for a leaders’ meeting; “There can be no stable and lasting peace if Europe is not involved.” Merz called the talks “the right step” but said he sees no sign that russia is ready for serious negotiations (Reuters).

I have not seen any sign of this so far.

🛡️European support. On 3.11 Merz pledged continued support for Ukraine’s air defence and energy sector ahead of winter and announced a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” in Berlin on 19 November (Ukrinform 19:02 and 18:00). Zelensky said US, European and Ukrainian teams were meeting in Brussels on security and reconstruction packages. According to Il Sole 24 Ore (citing the UK and French defence ministries), about 2,800 troops from ten European countries will hold the first exercise of the multinational force in south-eastern Poland on 9–22 November.

🛢️unverifiedAccording to the Wall Street Journal (as retold by Il Sole 24 Ore), the US reportedly supports resuming sales of russian pipeline gas to Europe through Ukraine as part of a winter energy truce — via an American intermediary, to get around sanctions; Witkoff and Jared Kushner raised the issue in September. The original WSJ report was not read; no official confirmation.

The French foreign ministry (Ukrinform, 3.11 22:38) condemned the new pre-winter strikes as “Kremlin cynicism”, recalled the local humanitarian ceasefire in Oleshky and called for safe humanitarian access.

🕊️ Ukraine and russia. No direct statements by Trump about the war in the past day were found in the materials read. The White House (via Ukrinform, 3.11 16:07): First Lady Melania Trump will personally bring together russian and Ukrainian representatives at the White House over the ceasefire in Oleshky, an occupied town in the Kherson region, which, according to the White House, Trump helped secure; Trump will make a statement on Oleshky on Thursday, 5.11, at 11:00 local time.

unverified Iran. According to Euronews (3.11), Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iran wants a deal as soon as possible and that it “could happen!”; at the same time an anonymous US official said the US had carried out “defensive” strikes near the Strait of Hormuz on Iranians who had used surface-to-air missiles against a US asset; Iranian media reported five explosions on Qeshm island. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said indirect talks with the US are going on through mediators ( Qatar, Pakistan).

could happen!

💸Aid to Israel. On Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” on 3.11 (US midterm election day), Trump said the US would stop paying Israel about $4bn a year from the end of the year because, in his words, “they don’t need it”. The State Department did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request; which aid he meant was not specified.

We've already agreed that by the end of this year we won't be paying Israel.

No verified funny or bizarre episode in the past day was found in the materials read; the light item is skipped this time rather than made up.

Steve Witkoff (US special envoy), post on X, 3.11: US negotiators will meet France, Germany, the UK, the EU and NATO in Brussels this week on security guarantees for Ukraine; the aim of the Abu Dhabi talks, he said, reflects Trump’s wish to “end the war”. NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart confirmed consultations in Brussels this week.

China: no statements by Chinese officials on the war or the talks on 3–4.11 could be found. No other US officials besides Trump and Witkoff made relevant statements in the past day in the materials read.

🗣️russia’s delegation at the Abu Dhabi talks on 10–11 November will be led by Putin’s aide Vladimir Medinsky, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on 3.11 (according to AFP). Medinsky led russia’s delegation at the 2022 talks in Istanbul, at last year’s in Istanbul and at this year’s in Geneva; the analyst Taras Zahorodnii (Ukrinform) sees the appointment as a signal of a return to the Istanbul demands — an expert’s view, not a Kremlin statement.

No other statements by Putin, Lavrov, Ushakov, Medvedev, Belousov, Shoigu, Matviyenko or Volodin on the war, the talks or the US on 3–4.11 in the materials read; no Kremlin reaction to the strike on Komyshuvakha found either.