Russia and Ukraine carried out another round of air attacks against each other on November 15, just days after a burst of diplomacy brokered by the United States failed to produce any breakthrough toward peace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that Russian forces struck at least nine regions overnight, hitting energy, civilian, and railway infrastructure in some areas and leaving at least 16 people injured.
Among the places hit was Chornomorsk, a city in Ukraine's southern Odesa region. A local resident named Khrystyna told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that the strikes had left her with "nowhere to live," with parts of her apartment damaged or destroyed. "Everything is in ruins," she said while clearing debris. "Our balcony has been destroyed.. Nothing is left of it. All the windows have been blown out, all the doors destroyed."
Zelenskyy said Russia had fired more than 2,300 drones, 1,590 guided aerial bombs, and 15 missiles of various types at Ukraine over the past week. He said many of the strikes were penetrating Ukrainian air defenses because of restrictions on Kyiv's use of SpaceX's Starshield satellite communications system, which is considered vital for countering drone attacks.
According to the Ukrainian president, the restrictions have left the country's energy facilities especially exposed, because they prevent interceptor drones from staying in contact with their operators at speeds above 161 kilometers per hour.
Since launching its full-scale invasion, Russia has repeatedly used cold weather to step up its bombardment, depriving thousands of Ukrainians of heat and electricity in an effort to force Kyiv to accept its hard-line conditions for peace. This year, however, Ukraine has answered more frequently with its own strikes on infrastructure inside Russia that it says sustains Moscow's war effort.
Ukraine's General Staff said on November 15 that it had struck a petrochemical plant and an oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk, a city in Russia's oil-rich republic of Tatarstan more than 800 kilometers from the front line, as well as a plant in the Bryansk region that manufactures aircraft.
Videos shared on social media appeared to show a major blaze at an industrial site in Nizhnekamsk, though the footage could not be independently verified. Local authorities acknowledged a drone attack on the city and said facilities in its industrial zone were damaged. Nizhnekamsk Mayor Radmir Belyaev also reported damage to a residential building, and regional health authorities said three people were injured.
Russia's Defense Ministry, for its part, said its air defenses had downed 533 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and occupied Crimea overnight. That claim could not be independently confirmed.
The exchange of strikes followed trilateral talks among US, Russian, and Ukrainian representatives held in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11. After the meetings concluded, US President Donald Trump's diplomatic envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, met separately with Russian President Vladimir Putin and with Zelenskyy.
