Ukraine’s Air Force said its preliminary 08:00 tally was 105 drones shot down or suppressed from 128 launched; the figure is an official wartime claim and has not been independently verified. The Air Force also reported two Kh-35 missiles but did not say they were intercepted. The Associated Press separately reported four people injured and damage in the Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv regions, attributing those details to Ukrainian officials. Reuters reported Russian military claims about overnight strikes and said it could not independently verify battlefield reports. The planned Abu Dhabi talks were announced by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and reported by Reuters; they remain planned, not a completed meeting or ceasefire. A bounded search for photographs of the Nov. 5 events found AP, Getty and AFP event imagery without reuse rights suitable for this publication. The two images are distinct archive context: a Kyiv residential building damaged in a Russian drone attack on Oct. 17, 2022 (National Police of Ukraine, CC BY 4.0), and Kyiv’s riverfront photographed on Oct. 25, 2021 (Arne Müseler, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE). Neither depicts the Nov. 5 attack or current talks. Original JPEGs are retained in public/newsroom/source-originals/ukraine-airstrikes-abu-dhabi-talks-2026; display copies were proportionally resized and re-encoded as WebP, with no crop or content retouching, and retain the applicable licenses.
A preliminary overnight tally
Ukraine’s Air Force said air defences shot down or suppressed 105 of 128 drones launched during a Russian attack overnight into Thursday, while two Kh-35 guided missiles were also fired from the Black Sea. The tally was preliminary as of 8 a.m. local time on Nov. 5, and the military said several drones were still in the air.
The Air Force grouped Shahed-type, Gerbera and decoy drones in its count. It said 65 of the 128 drones were jet-powered; 48 of the 105 targets it said were neutralised were jet-powered Shaheds. The statement did not report that either missile had been intercepted.
Officials report injuries and damage
The Associated Press reported that four people were injured in the Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv regions, citing Ukrainian officials. Local accounts also described damage to homes, infrastructure and garages, along with a warehouse fire near Kyiv. The Air Force reported impacts at 18 locations and falling debris at nine, figures that have not been independently verified.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces struck logistics and transport targets, including railway and energy infrastructure, Reuters reported. Reuters said it could not independently verify the battlefield reports. The competing official accounts describe claims made by the parties; they do not establish a complete independent damage assessment.
Diplomatic contacts continue, but a meeting is still ahead
The strike came as Ukrainian officials continued talks in Brussels on reconstruction, funding for 2027 and security guarantees. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he spoke by phone on Nov. 4 with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about preparations for a team-level meeting involving Ukraine, the United States and Russia.
Reuters reported that Witkoff had announced the next trilateral round for Nov. 10–11 in Abu Dhabi, with the Kremlin confirming the plan. Those dates remain prospective. The sources reviewed establish diplomatic preparations, not that negotiations have begun or that the parties have reached a ceasefire or agreement.
Sources
7 references
- Associated PressUkraine says it repelled overnight Russian drone and missile attackReports the Ukrainian Air Force’s preliminary 105-of-128 drone tally, official accounts of four injuries and damage, and continuing diplomatic contacts. · 2026-11-05
- UkrinformAir defences neutralise 105 of 128 Russian dronesRelays the Air Force’s preliminary statement, including the two Kh-35 missiles, 128 drones launched and 105 shot down or suppressed by 08:00. · 2026-11-05
- President of UkraineVolodymyr Zelenskyy discussed preparations for a meeting with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared KushnerPrimary account of Zelenskyy’s call with U.S. envoys and preparations for a team-level meeting involving Ukraine, the United States and Russia. · 2026-11-04
- ReutersRussia says it struck logistics and transport targets in Ukraine overnightReports Russian military claims about targets and says battlefield reports could not be independently verified. · 2026-11-05
- ReutersU.S. to hold trilateral talks with Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi next week, envoy saysReports U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff’s announcement of planned Nov. 10–11 talks and the Kremlin’s confirmation. · 2026-11-02
- Wikimedia CommonsKyiv after Russian drone attack, 2022-10-17 (13)Photo source and CC BY 4.0 licence; the file description credits the National Police of Ukraine and asks users to attribute npu.gov.ua. · 2022-10-17
- Wikimedia CommonsAerial view of KyivPhoto source and CC BY-SA 3.0 DE licence; photographed by Arne Müseler / arne-mueseler.com. · 2021-10-25
