Here are the highlights from the 1,350th day of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Published on November 5, 2025
Here’s how things stand on Wednesday, November 5:
fights
Russian and Ukrainian forces have fought in the ruins of PokrovskA transport and logistics hub in eastern Ukraine, Ukraine’s military reported heavy fighting in an area of the city that was vital to Kiev’s front-line logistics.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he visited troops fighting near the eastern city of Dobropilia, where Ukrainian forces have launched a counteroffensive against Russian forces.
Russia launched a massive overnight drone attack on Ukraine’s southern Odesa region targeting civilian power and port infrastructure, the region’s governor said in a post on the Telegram messaging app, adding that rescuers put out the fire and there were no casualties.
Ukraine attacked an oil refinery in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, east of Moscow, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement. The extent of damage to the Lukoil refinery in the city of Kustovo, which supplies the Russian military, was not immediately known.
Ukraine’s military also said its drones caused “substantial damage” to a petrochemical plant in Bashkortostan, central Russia. Regional authorities reported an attack on the Sterlitamac petrochemical plant, but added that the facility was still operating.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law authorizing the use of military reserves to protect oil refineries after Ukrainian drone strikes caused fuel shortages in parts of the country.
Weapons
- Putin praised his country’s development of new weapons, including the Burevestnik cruise missile and the Poseidon super torpedo, describing them as faster and more effective, with the Burevestnik capable of reaching three times the speed of sound.
- Putin also said Russia is mass-producing its Oreshnik missile, which Moscow says was first used to attack Ukraine in November 2024.
Zelensky again called on the United States to remain open to supplying long-range weapons to Kiev for its war effort against Russian aggression, as well as greater restrictions on Moscow’s gas and nuclear sectors.
- Norwegian munitions maker Nammo has signed a letter of intent with a Ukrainian industrial partner to manufacture, develop and sell ammunition in Ukraine, the Norwegian government said.
Approval
Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil and gas company Kazmunaygaz and the Approved by Russian oil and gas company Lukoil Russia’s Interfax agency reported that despite Western sanctions, work on joint projects is continuing in accordance with treaty obligations.
Japanese investment firm Marubeni plans to follow the Japanese government’s guidance on its involvement in Russia’s Sakhalin-1 oil project. Masayuki Omoto, CEO of Marubeni, Rosneft, the US government’s major shareholder in the project, said at a briefing in Tokyo.
Turkish fuel supplier Guzel Energy has announced a diesel price hike after Western sanctions on Russian oil companies caused supply problems and increased insurance and financing costs, according to documents seen by Reuters.
Politics and Diplomacy
- Zelensky called on Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán to block Kiev’s bid to join the European Union.
- The European Commission said the EU could welcome new member states as early as 2030, as it praised Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova for progressing reforms needed to join the bloc.
- The EU may need to come up with a bridging solution to keep Ukraine financed as early as 2026 if a deal on EU debt based on frozen Russian assets in EU accounts continues to be delayed, European Finance and Productivity Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said.
Germany plans to increase aid to Ukraine by about 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) next year, a spokeswoman for the central finance ministry said. Germany has already contributed about 40 billion euros ($46 billion) to the start of a full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.
Maxim Oreshkin, deputy chief of staff in Russia’s presidential administration, will lead Moscow’s delegation to the G20 summit in South Africa later this month, according to a decree signed by Putin. The Kremlin had previously said Putin, who faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, would not attend the November 22-23 summit in Johannesburg.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues to act as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia over Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, including ZaporizhiaIAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
