Russian Defence Ministry: Ukraine's energy facilities and ships struck overnight

The Russian Defence Ministry said that the Russian Armed Forces had struck facilities of Ukraine's energy complex and vessels used in the interests of the Ukrainian Armed Forces overnight.

According to the ministry's statement, a battery park was hit in the city of Bila Tserkva in Kyiv region as a result of the strikes. The ministry also said an energy facility in Kyiv region and a cargo ship in the port of Odesa had been targeted.

The Russian Defence Ministry separately said that the Russian Aerospace Forces had struck an electrical substation in the Sumy area with a FAB-500 aerial bomb. Earlier, the ministry also announced that the Russian Aerospace Forces had used a FAB-3000 aerial bomb to strike a temporary deployment point of a Ukrainian Armed Forces brigade in Zaporizhzhia region.

The Ukrainian-appointed governor of Zaporizhzhia region, for his part, said that Russian forces had carried out 785 attacks on 51 settlements in the region over the past 24 hours.

The Russian Defence Ministry has reported strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure and on vessels in recent days as well: on 4 November the ministry said a dry cargo ship carrying military equipment for the Ukrainian army had been hit in the Black Sea. According to the Ukrainian side, on 3 November Zhytomyr was left completely without electricity after a Russian attack on energy infrastructure, while in Kyiv tram and trolleybus services were halted due to the critical situation in the power system.

Against this backdrop, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said: “In the coming days we expect talks in Abu Dhabi. We will focus on security issues, confidence-building measures and topics that could be discussed at a possible meeting between Zelensky and Putin.”