Russia and Ukraine exchange airstrikes as US envoy describes renewed
security talks as productive
[November 06, 2026]
By DEREK GATOPOULOS
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine exchanged airstrikes overnight
as the second day of talks on Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction and
security guarantees once the fighting ends wrapped up in Brussels on
Thursday.
The latest Russian aerial barrage underscored the scale of the
rebuilding task, as did the continuing search for people missing beneath
the rubble after a deadly airstrike in southern Ukraine on Monday.
Ukraine launched hundreds of drones at Russian targets. Russia’s Defense
Ministry said its forces shot down nearly 500 drones overnight.
A Ukrainian attack on a bus killed five people and wounded 13 others
Thursday in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Luhansk region, according to
Leonid Pasechnik, the region’s Moscow-backed leader. Further details
were not immediately available.
Meanwhile, rescue teams continued searching for more than 30 people
believed trapped in the wreckage of a former school and a nearby shelter
hit by Russian guided bombs on Monday. The attack in Komyshuvakha, near
the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region, struck as residents waited
for humanitarian aid.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 43 people had been
confirmed dead. In a message on X, he said one person previously
reported missing had been found alive.
Postwar reconstruction talks resume
The second day of talks wrapped up at NATO headquarters in Brussels as
officials from the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and the European Union
discussed postwar reconstruction, funding for 2027 and security
guarantees backed by the Ukrainian government's Western allies.
Ukraine’s lead negotiator Rustem Umerov said that representatives from
the World Bank and the U.S. investment group BlackRock were also
present. “We separately discussed the threats from Russia to Ukraine and
all of Europe, as well as joint steps to counter them,” Umerov wrote in
an online post.
Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and peace envoy,
described the meeting as “productive and substantive."
The Brussels meetings are taking place days before negotiators from
Russia, Ukraine and the United States are due to meet in Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates, for talks aimed at trying to end the war. Late
Wednesday, Zelenskyy said that he had held a 90-minute conversation with
U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
“The negotiations must move forward at full throttle to bring this war
to an end as quickly as possible,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
“Ukraine is ready to take the necessary steps. Our proposals are clear,
and we have given them to the American side.”
In excerpts from an interview with German broadcaster ZDF, to be aired
in full on Friday, Zelenskyy expressed hope that the Democratic Party's
win in the U.S. midterm elections could usher in a new era of support
for Ukraine.
“We have support from two parties — support from both parties. I am also
grateful to the Republicans,” Zelenskyy said. He added that the
Democrats “speak of renewing the ties between the U.S. and Europe, which
have been somewhat lost in recent years. And that is very important to
us.”
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told The Associated Press that
the midterm results could change the atmosphere in Washington.
“The understanding that Russia is an aggressive country and is not
serving U.S. interests” may become more prevalent on Capitol Hill after
the elections, Tsahkna said in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital.
[to top of second column]
|
A firefighter tries to extinguish a fire at a destroyed warehouse
after a Russian drone attack in Sofiivska Borshchahivka, on the
outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo
Antoniuk)
But “the president is President Trump,” he added, and Trump can
dictate foreign and security policy. Ukraine’s situation will depend
in part on Trump’s actions, Tsahkna said, and the president may feel
freer to act because he is not running for reelection.
“Unpredictability” should be expected, he said.
Ukraine receives further $4.9 billion from Europe
The European Commission on Thursday sent Ukraine 4.4 billion euros
($4.9 billion) as part of a 90 billion euro ($100 billion) loan
agreed in April by EU leaders to support the embattled nation.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the money will
help Ukraine fund essential spending on defense and public services.
“As Russia continues its relentless attacks, Ukraine is about to
start its fifth wartime winter,” she said. “And as efforts to
achieve a just and lasting peace for Ukraine continue, so too does
the EU’s unwavering support.”
Russian airstrikes wound 4 in Ukraine
Ukraine’s air defenses shot down or suppressed 105 of 128 Russian
attack drones overnight and into early Thursday, while Russian
strikes wounded four people in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv
regions, Ukrainian officials said.
Russian drones struck six areas in the Dnipropetrovsk region,
wounding three people in the city of Dnipro, regional administrator
Oleksandr Hanzha said. A Russian attack on logistics infrastructure
west of the capital, Kyiv, caused a fire and wounded a man, the
State Emergency Service said.
Fire reported at Russian oil refinery
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that its forces shot down
496 Ukrainian drones over 13 Russian regions overnight, as well as
the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia, and the Black
and Azov Seas.
More than 200 Ukrainian drones targeted Russia’s Ryazan region
southeast of Moscow, wounding one person, local governor Pavel
Malkov said.
Malkov said that falling debris from the attack damaged power lines
and sparked a fire at an industrial site. Russian media outlets
later reported a blaze at the Ryazan oil refinery, sharing pictures
of plumes of smoke and the night sky glowing red.
___
Farnoush Amiri in New York, Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands,
Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, and Emma Burrows in
Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
