Russian air strikes hit Ukrainian civilian sites, Ukrainian officials said on November 3, killing several people and seriously damaging residential buildings while Moscow said it carried out massive attacks as its troops continue to make advances in the key city of Pokrovsk.
On Pokrovsk's eastern and southern perimeters, Russian forces have slowly crept forward in recent weeks, seizing roads, slowly strangling supply lines, and pressuring Ukrainian defenses.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged, that the battle for Pokrovsk is currently the hottest area on the entire front line. In a media briefing on November 3, Zelenskyy said that “as many as 30 percent of all combat activities are now taking place in Pokrovsk.” He added that half of all Russian guided bomb strikes are now directed at Pokrovsk, hence “you can understand how tough it is for our [soldiers]” there.
At the same time, he insisted that Russian armed forces have not been successful over the last several days and that currently up to 300 Russian soldiers remain in Pokrovsk.
Russian forces managed to cement a more stable foothold inside the ruined city as Ukrainian troops, under pressure in other locations to the north, such as Kupyansk, struggled to hold them back.
Russia's Defense Ministry said it attacked military and industrial sites overnight early on November 3, targeting a Ukrainian military airfield, a military equipment repair base, and military-industrial facilities as well as gas infrastructure facilities that supported them.
The claims could not be independently verified, while Ukraine's 7th Rapid Response Corps said operations to clear the city of Russian troops continued, with forces heading off an attempt to cut a supply route from Rodynske to the north.
Sitting astride two major highways -- one heading west to the Dnipropetrovsk region and the city of Dnipro, the other heading northeast to the railway junction city of Kostyantynivka -- Pokrovsk has been a linchpin of Ukraine's defense on the central and southern stretches of the 1,100-kilometer front line.
Meanwhile, the governor of the Ukrainian Donetsk region, Vadym Filashkin, said three people were killed overnight, while local authorities in the northeastern Sumy region said one person died in a separate strike.
Oleksandr Prokudin, who governs the Kherson region, said the Russian military attacked several towns and settlements in the region overnight as well.
"Because of the Russian aggression, one person died and eight others were injured," Prokudin said.
Dnipropetrovsk regional Governor Vladyslav Hayvanenko said Russian missiles caused a fire at a local business building and injured one person, while Governor Oleh Synehubov of the Kharkiv region said 13 towns and cities, including the regional capital, Kharkiv, had been targeted by Russian drones and missiles overnight. Five people were injured.
The first deputy head of Ukraine's Inhul district for the city of Mykolayiv, Anton Uzhva, told RFE/RL that a Russian air strike hit and damaged a local hypermarket of construction materials in the morning.
"Five multistory residential buildings were also damaged, mostly the windows were shattered. Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured," Uzhva said.
RFE/RL correspondents reported from the site that the hypermarket's building was seriously damaged with the building's roof and multiple walls destroyed.
Local resident Natalya told RFE/RL that the area has been regularly under Russian air attacks.
Officials of the Ukrainian Air Defense said Russian military used 150 drones and missiles in the overnight attack.
According to the statement, Russia shot three X-47M2 Kinzhal ballistic missiles, four Iskander-M missiles, five S-300/S-400 missiles, as well 138 drones at Ukrainian territory.
Russian Defense Ministry said on November 3 that its air defense shot down 365 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Russian civil aviation officials said operations of the airport in the Volga city of Saratov was suspended for several hours for "securing flights' safety."
