Ukraine Conflict Monitor
Update
Ukraine war situation update | 25 – 31 October 2025
Overview of political violence and conflict events in Ukraine from 25 to 31 October 2025
Key stats
1,506 political violence events
7% increase compared to last week
101 incidents of violence targeting civilians
3% increase compared to last week
At least 58 fatalities from civilian targeting
3% decrease compared to last week
Key events
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26 Oct.
Kyiv — Two day-long Russian drone strikes kill five civilians and injure over 50 others across Kyiv city
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30 Oct.
Donetsk — Russian aerial bombs hit Slovyanska thermal power plant, killing two energy workers and injuring six others
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31 Oct.
Zhytomyr — A mine explosion kills five civilians logging in the northern Zhytomyr region
Key trends
- Russian forces occupied two settlements southeast of Pokrovske at the junction of the Donetsk-Dnipropetrovsk-Zaporizhia regions. Russian troops also claimed control over a village southwest of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region.
- Ukrainian forces continued advancing near Shakhove and liberated four settlements north of Pokrovsk. Ukrainian forces also reclaimed Yehorivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
- Russian forces launched at least 45 long-range missile and drone attacks, including on the western Lviv, Khmelnytskyi, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, as well as the city and region of Kyiv.
- Russian strikes killed at least 43 civilians in the Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, and Vinnytsia regions, as well as in Kyiv city. Ukrainian strikes reportedly killed nine civilians in the Russia-occupied parts of the Donetsk and Kherson regions.
Spotlight: Russia and Ukraine exchange strikes on key power substations while adhering to the ceasefire around the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant
On 30 October, Russian forces carried out a combination of drone and missile strikes at critical power substations in the Khmelnytskyi and Mykolaiv regions, triggering blackouts across the country and at the Khmelnytskyi and South Ukraine nuclear power plants, endangering nuclear safety. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the blackouts also forced energy workers at the Rivne nuclear power plant to reduce the power of two of its units to maintain power grid stability.1 The strikes also affected energy infrastructure in the Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Vinnytsia, and Kharkiv regions, as well as thermal power plants in the Lviv and Donetsk regions.
Ukrainian drones and missiles struck key power substations in the Vladimir and Bryansk regions, as well as a power plant in the Oryol region. This was likely in retaliation for the Russian strikes, as hinted at by the commander of Ukraine’s unmanned systems forces.2 The strikes led to unprecedented blackouts in Tula and Oryol cities, as well as in parts of the Moscow region,3 raising questions about Russia’s ability to ensure energy security at home.
While Russia’s targeting of infrastructure related to Ukrainian nuclear power plants deepens Ukraine’s energy crisis and endangers regional nuclear security, both Russian and Ukrainian forces appear to be adhering to the IAEA-brokered localized ceasefire around the Russia-occupied Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) that came into force on October 18th. The plant — which is precariously located on the line of contact — lost connection to the last of 10 power lines linking it to Ukraine’s power grid in September. It ran on diesel-operated emergency generators to cool down its non-operational reactors and spent fuel for a full month. In October, ACLED records fewer hostilities in the ZNPP area near the town of Enerhodar, probably allowing for extending the truce to repair an additional damaged power line.
Explore the ACLED Conflict Exposure Calculator to assess the numbers of people affected by armed violence, disaggregated by locations, time period, and actors involved.
