Ukrainian drone strikes killed three people in Russia's Belgorod region on Wednesday, November 4, local authorities said, on a day when Russian overnight attacks damaged power generation facilities and substations in nine Ukrainian regions and cut electricity and water to cities on both sides of the front line.

Source: Al Jazeera

A married couple was killed when a drone hit their car in a village about 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) east of the border with northern Ukraine's Sumy region, the regional crisis response centre said in a statement reported by The Moscow Times with Reuters reporting. In a separate strike near the town of Shebekino, closer to the border with Ukraine's Kharkiv region, a man was killed in a drone strike on a cargo truck.

Source: The Moscow Times / Reuters

At least four other people were wounded across the Belgorod region, the crisis response centre added. Earlier on Wednesday, Belgorod region Governor Alexander Shuvayev said six people had been injured in attacks over the past 24 hours.

Source: The Moscow Times / Reuters

Russian strikes knock out power and water in Kyiv and beyond

In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia's overnight attacks damaged power generation facilities and substations in nine regions, leaving emergency outages in many cities. Russia's Defence Ministry confirmed on Telegram that it hit two power stations in Ukraine's Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions. Ukraine has repeatedly said Moscow is targeting its energy grid as temperatures drop before winter.

Source: Al Jazeera

Overnight Russian attacks on critical infrastructure caused hours-long power and water outages across Kyiv and surrounding regions. Residents in the capital were urged to use public drinking water fountains, and emergency centres offering hot tea and power points to charge devices were set up in the worst-hit areas.

Source: Al Jazeera

Beyond the capital, Russia also hit the regions of Poltava, Dnipro, Kirovohrad and Rivne, Reuters reported, citing Ukraine's emergency service and local officials. There were also power outages in Crimea, the peninsula Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, home to approximately 2.5 million residents: Russia's Ministry of Energy said Ukrainian strikes hit energy infrastructure overnight and that temporary outage schedules were in force, without saying how many households were affected.

Source: Al Jazeera

Russia's Defence Ministry also said it downed 709 Ukrainian drones across 14 regions, Crimea and the Black and Azov seas — a figure Al Jazeera reported as a ministry claim; it has not been independently verified. Both Russia and Ukraine deny deliberately targeting civilians.

Source: Al Jazeera

In southern Russia the same night, a Ukrainian drone attack started a fire at a major Ozon distribution warehouse in Adygeysk, in the Republic of Adygea, regional head Murat Kumpilov said; the company said all workers were evacuated and no one was hurt. Read: Ukraine drone sparks fire at Ozon warehouse in Adygeysk

Kremlin looks to Trump's peace efforts after the midterms

Amid the fighting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow hopes United States President Donald Trump will continue his peace efforts after the sweeping Democratic victory in the US congressional midterms. 'President Trump continues to exercise his powers. We sincerely hope that he will also continue his peacemaking efforts,' Peskov said. Asked whether a change in Congress could hinder those efforts, he said, as cited by the state-run Interfax news outlet, that it was 'an internal matter for America'.

Source: Al Jazeera

Democratic control of the legislature from January is expected to bring a more vocal pro-Kyiv majority in Congress that could pressure Trump to change tack, Al Jazeera reported, though there is little expectation that the US will return as a major financial backer of Ukraine. The United States is due to bring Ukrainian and Russian delegations together in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11 for talks on ending the war, and teams from Ukraine, the US, Europe and NATO were meeting in Brussels on Wednesday on security guarantees.

Source: Al Jazeera

The reciprocal strikes came days after a Russian bombing of an aid distribution point in the Zaporizhzhia region village of Komyshuvakha, where the death toll has risen to 40 with dozens still missing, Ukrainian officials said. Read: Komyshuvakha aid-point strike toll reaches 40

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy awarded US First Lady Melania Trump the Order of Princess Olga, which honours women who have contributed to Ukraine, according to a presidential decree on Wednesday. The decree noted her 'significant personal contribution' in providing support for humanitarian aid and children in Ukraine; Ukrainian officials say she played a pivotal role in organising the six-day local ceasefire to evacuate civilians from the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, which ended on Sunday.

Source: Al Jazeera