ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November 2, 2026

Key Takeaways from the ISW: Russia continued to intensify its long-range strike campaign against Ukraine in October 2026, particularly exploiting jet-powered drones and quasi-cruise missiles to maximize civilian harm. Russia’s increasingly devastating strikes come against the backdrop of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s evolving theory of victory that hinges on the effectiveness of Russia’s long-range strike campaign to make Ukrainian civilian life untenable and disrupt and isolate the Ukrainian economy from Europe. Russian forces conducted a devastating airstrike against Komyshuvakha (southeast of Zaporizhzhia City) on November 2, reportedly killing at least 18 civilians. Poland is taking steps to strengthen security along Poland’s international border with Russia following recent intelligence warnings and an increase in Russian sabotage operations in Europe. Likely Ukrainian hackers hacked the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations’ mobile app on November 2 following a Russian hack against Ukraine’s air alert system on November 1. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree ordering private Russian data centers to reserve some of their capacity for government use, likely to exert more control over Russian information systems. Ukrainian long-range strikes against Russian data centers are forcing the Kremlin to rapidly invest in strengthening the physical security of its digital infrastructure. Russia launched 193 drones against Ukraine overnight on November 1 to 2 and 332 drones and loitering munitions during the day on November 1. Ukrainian forces likely struck Russian oil infrastructure in Samara Oblast. Neither Russian nor Ukrainian forces advanced on November 2. JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. See the original here.