Introducing the main events of the 1,351st day of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Published November 6, 2025
Here’s what happened on Thursday, November 6th.
finding
The Russian Ministry of Defense said Ukrainian troops besieged in the cities of Pokrovsk and Kupiansk must surrender or there is no chance of their survival. Russia said its forces were moving north through Pokrovsk in a bid to take full control of the Ukrainian city, but the Ukrainian military said its forces were fighting hard to prevent Russian troops from gaining new bases. Ukraine has acknowledged that its forces face a difficult situation in the strategic eastern city, which was once a key transport and logistics hub for the Ukrainian military, and Russia has been trying to capture it for more than a year. Russia sees the city of Pokrovsk as a gateway to seize the remaining 10 percent, or 5,000 square kilometers (1,930 square miles), of Ukraine’s eastern industrial Donbas region, one of its key objectives in the nearly four-year war. A Ukrainian drone attack caused minor damage to oil pumping stations in two districts of Russia’s Yaroslavl region, regional governor Mikhail Evlayev said.
energy
Following widespread damage from Russia’s escalating attacks on Kiev’s energy infrastructure, Ukraine has resumed importing gas from a pipeline across the Balkans to Greece to keep its heating and electrical systems running through the winter. Ukraine is scheduled to receive 1.1 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas from the Trans-Balkan route on Wednesday, after importing 0.78 mcm on Tuesday, according to data from Ukrainian gas transport operators. The route connects LNG terminals in Ukraine and Greece via Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria. Poland is working on a deal to import liquefied natural gas from the United States to supply Ukraine and Slovakia, a deal that would further strengthen the European Union’s energy ties with the United States, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the negotiations.
nuclear weapons
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered government officials to draft a proposal for a possible nuclear weapons test, something the Russian government has not done since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Putin’s order comes in the wake of President Donald Trump’s announcement last week that Washington would resume nuclear testing, and is seen as a sign that the two countries are rapidly approaching a point that could sharply escalate geopolitical tensions. Russia’s Interfax news agency reported, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, that the United States has notified Russia in advance of a test launch of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on November 5. Russia-U.S. relations have sharply deteriorated in recent weeks after President Trump, frustrated by the lack of progress toward ending the war in Ukraine, canceled a planned summit with President Putin and imposed sanctions on Russia for the first time since returning to the White House in January. President Trump said in a speech at the American Business Forum in Miami that he “may be working on a denuclearization program” with China and Russia.
sanctions
According to local media, Bulgaria is drafting a law that would allow it to take control of the sanctioned Russian oil company Lukoil’s Burgas refinery and sell it to a new owner to protect it from U.S. sanctions. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsachna called on China to end Russia’s economic support for the war in Ukraine and urged China to join Western efforts to pressure President Vladimir Putin for a ceasefire. “Although China claims that it is not involved in this military conflict, it was clear that China was gaining significant influence over Russia week by week because the Russian economy was in decline,” Tsakna told Reuters.
economy
Central Bank Governor Andriy Pyshny said Ukraine plans to replace the kopecks in a bid to dispel remaining symbols of Moscow’s former rule, adding that he hoped the change would be completed this year. Ukraine introduced the hryvnia currency in 1996, five years after gaining independence from the Soviet Union, and minted its own coins, but kept the Ukrainian kopeika, the former Soviet name. The new coin will be known by the historic Ukrainian word “Shah”.
