On November 3, 2026, during a meeting with German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a statement regarding the course of Russian airstrikes and Kyiv's diplomatic efforts. According to the head of state, Ukraine appealed to Moscow with a proposal to extend and expand the ceasefire that was in effect during the humanitarian mission in Oleshky, but in response received, as he put it, massive strikes across the country's territory. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the Office of the President.
Ceasefire proposal and strike response
Zelenskyy stressed that after the evacuation of people from Oleshky, Kyiv offered Moscow to continue and expand the period of cessation of fire that made the humanitarian operation possible. "We offered Russia to continue and expand the silence that allowed people to be brought out of Oleshky. But in response, we got this, an attack like this. New shelling, new strikes, new killings of our people," the president stated. He linked the sharp intensification of airstrikes directly to the moment immediately following the completion of the humanitarian mission.
Kamyshuvakha: The second day of strikes
The head of state recalled that in the village of Kamyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia region, an operation has been ongoing for the second day, during which, according to him, several aerial bomb strikes were carried out. "Just one strike — 33 people died, 5 were rescued, and more than 50 may be under the rubble. A terrible strike, one of the biggest Russian killings of this war," Zelenskyy noted. Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported that on November 2, Kamyshuvakha was subjected to bombardment, with a local school targeted, and as a result of the airstrikes, 26 people were killed; the number of victims, as follows from the president's statement, was subsequently revised.
Nighttime energy attack
Zelenskyy also reported a massive nighttime strike across the entire country: "Tonight there was another massive strike, there were cruise missiles, there was ballistics, there were hundreds of drones." According to the publication, on the night of November 3, drones and missiles hit power plants and substations in nine oblasts, as well as railway facilities. The president emphasized that attacks on energy infrastructure, cities, and villages continue daily.
Context of escalation
The statement came against the backdrop of an ongoing exchange of strikes and Kyiv's attempts to secure at least localized periods of ceasefire. The connection built by Zelenskyy — from the humanitarian operation in Oleshky through the proposal to expand the silence to the subsequent massive attacks — indicates that, in Kyiv's assessment, signals for de-escalation were not accepted. Specific loss figures and the scale of the nighttime strike are based on statements from the Ukrainian side and RBC-Ukraine data.
