Russia launched one of its largest drone waves of the autumn at Ukraine overnight on Sunday-Monday, November 8-9, sending 317 strike drones across the country on the eve of a new round of US-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi, according to Ukraine's Air Force. Ukrainian air defences shot down or electronically suppressed 271 of the drones, the Air Force said, but strikes were recorded at 31 locations, and seven people were injured in the central city of Kremenchuk. Anadolu Agency reported the Ukrainian and Russian accounts on Monday morning, and EA WorldView, which tracks the war daily, carried the same Air Force figures.
Source: Anadolu Agency, Nov 9 2026
The Air Force said 105 of the 317 drones were jet-powered UAVs — the faster Geran-type drones that have strained Ukraine's defences this year — and that 81 of those 105 were neutralised. The attack began on Sunday evening and ran through the night into Monday morning, with drones arriving from multiple directions, Ukrainian reporting said.
Source: EA WorldView, Nov 9 2026, citing Ukraine's Air Force
Kremenchuk: a 16-storey home and a hotel hit, seven injured
The worst reported harm was in Kremenchuk, an industrial city on the Dnipro river in the Poltava region. Poltava Governor Vitaliy Dyakivnych said on Telegram late on Sunday that Russian drones struck a 16-storey residential building and a hotel building, injuring seven people. Ukraine's State Emergency Service said rescuers saved 15 residents after the strikes and that the fires which broke out had been extinguished. Dyakivnych later said a drone had also hit private property in the Hlobyne area of the Kremenchuk district, starting a fire at an outbuilding but causing no casualties.
Source: Anadolu Agency, Nov 9 2026
Cherkasy, Dnipro and Kamianske also hit
In the Cherkasy region, Governor Ihor Taburets said critical infrastructure in the regional capital was damaged in the attacks from Sunday evening onward, with no casualties reported there; regional officials said air defences and mobile fire groups shot down missiles and drones over the region. In Dnipropetrovsk region, Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said air defences downed 23 Russian drones, five districts were targeted, an enterprise in the regional capital Dnipro was damaged and infrastructure in the city of Kamianske was hit.
Source: Anadolu Agency, Nov 9 2026
What Moscow says
Russia's Defence Ministry said its overnight strikes hit facilities that, in its words, support the operations of Ukraine's military-industrial complex and armed forces, claiming a hit on a plant in Hlobyne in the Poltava region and damage to electrical substations in the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Vinnytsia regions. The ministry also claimed Russian air defences shot down 430 Ukrainian drones over 14 regions and Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014. Both countries deny deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure, and Anadolu noted that independent verification of either side's claims is difficult because of the ongoing war.
Source: Anadolu Agency, Nov 9 2026, reporting the Russian Defence Ministry statement
Ukraine's return strikes the same night hit Russia's second-largest oil refinery at Kirishi in the Leningrad region, where the regional governor said 113 drones were intercepted — Awaaz Punjab covered that strike separately. Read: Ukrainian drones strike Kirishi refinery as 113 are downed
What is solid
- Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 317 drones overnight on November 8-9, including 105 jet-powered UAVs, and that 271 were shot down or suppressed, with strikes recorded at 31 locations — reported by Anadolu Agency, EA WorldView and Ukrainian outlets citing the Air Force.
- Poltava Governor Vitaliy Dyakivnych said drones hit a 16-storey residential building and a hotel in Kremenchuk, injuring seven people; the State Emergency Service said 15 residents were rescued and the fires put out.
- Cherkasy Governor Ihor Taburets reported damage to critical infrastructure with no casualties there, and Dnipropetrovsk Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said 23 drones were downed over his region with an enterprise in Dnipro damaged.
What is only claimed
- Russia's Defence Ministry says its strikes targeted only facilities supporting Ukraine's military-industrial complex and claims 430 Ukrainian drones were downed over 14 regions and Crimea; Ukraine says homes and a hotel were hit in Kremenchuk. Neither side's full claims can be independently verified, and both deny deliberately targeting civilians.
A bigger wave than the night before — on the eve of talks
The 317-drone wave was roughly double the previous night's attack, when Ukraine reported 164 drones and missiles aimed at Odesa and other targets. The escalation in the air came hours before delegations from Russia, Ukraine and the United States are due to sit down in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 10-11, for the first trilateral round since the Geneva meeting in February. President Donald Trump has predicted a major deal could be close, while European governments — gathering for a G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Paris on Monday — have pressed for a settlement that does not force Kyiv to accept disadvantageous terms.
Source: Anadolu Agency, Nov 9 2026; EA WorldView, Nov 9 2026
The previous night's Russian wave — 164 drones and missiles, with one person killed near Odesa — was covered by Awaaz Punjab on Sunday. Read: Russia's 164-drone attack on Ukraine the previous night
What happens next
The Abu Dhabi talks open on Tuesday with the air war, not a ceasefire, setting the backdrop: both sides have spent the nights before the meeting demonstrating they can still strike deep into each other's territory. Ukraine's foreign minister is expected to join a dedicated G7 session in Paris on Tuesday on support for Kyiv ahead of Abu Dhabi. Whether the negotiators can convert the meeting into even a limited de-escalation — on energy strikes, for example, which both capitals have discussed before — is the question the next 48 hours will answer; the drone counts, meanwhile, will be reported again on Tuesday morning.