A call, and a refinery under attack
Developing story · Updated November 1, 2026, 12:33 PM Central
A senior Kremlin aide says Vladimir Putin would take a phone call from Volodymyr Zelensky if Ukraine’s president placed one, a conditional signal about direct contact that came as a Russian oil-producing region reported a major overnight drone attack.
Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser, made the assertion in remarks to Russian state television on Sunday, according to the Kyiv Post and The U.S. Sun. He did not announce that a call had been arranged. The remarks alone do not establish that a breakthrough in peace talks is near.
Separately, Nizhny Novgorod regional governor Gleb Nikitin said an industrial facility in the Kstovo district suffered significant damage during a massive drone attack. Ukrainian reporting identified the target as Lukoil’s Kstovo refinery; Euronews reported that monitoring channels said the refinery was hit. The governor’s initial public description did not name the facility.
What the Kremlin aide actually said
Asked whether Putin would answer if Zelensky called, Ushakov said he thought the Russian leader would, the Kyiv Post reported. He also asserted that Putin has never refused conversations.
That sweeping claim has a relevant piece of history. Just before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Zelensky said he had tried to initiate a call with Putin and received no response, according to PBS News.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, has said Zelensky is ready for direct leader-level talks on difficult issues, including territory, the Kyiv Post reported. The outlet also described preparations for possible talks involving Ukrainian, Russian and U.S. delegations in November. Delegation talks are not the same thing as a confirmed conversation between the two presidents.
What is known about the drone attack
Nikitin said more than 100 drones were destroyed across the region and initially said preliminary information indicated no casualties, Euronews reported. Those figures are the governor’s account and have not been independently verified by Newstro.
Later reporting said the governor had updated the casualty information: Reflect.ee reported that a woman in a car was injured. The early no-casualty statement should therefore not be treated as the final account.
Ukrainian news outlet UNN reported that a fire broke out at the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery, also known as NORSI, and that the exact damage was still being assessed. The plant produces fuels including diesel and aviation fuel, Euronews reported. The effect on its current output remains unclear.
Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly targeted each other’s energy infrastructure during the war. Euronews reported that Zelensky said Russian strikes had left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian households without electricity over the preceding weekend.
What a Ukrainian defense company posted
On November 1, Fire Point, a Ukrainian manufacturer of long-range weapons, posted about the Kstovo refinery on X. Its post is included for context; the company is a participant in Ukraine’s defense industry and its post is not independent verification of the damage or the images attached to it.
View Fire Point’s post on X if the embed does not load.
What a Ukrainian defense company posted
On November 1, Fire Point, a Ukrainian manufacturer of long-range weapons, posted about the Kstovo refinery on X. Its post is included for context; the company is a participant in Ukraine’s defense industry and its post is not independent verification of the damage or the images attached to it.
View Fire Point’s post on X if the embed does not load.