Ukraine’s civilian toll and power crisis frame Security Council meeting

The UN Security Council met in New York on 9 November 2026 as civilian casualties and damage to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure weighed on the country ahead of winter. According to news.un.org, US-backed talks involving Russia and Ukraine were scheduled for 10–11 November in Abu Dhabi.

• UN News reported 328 civilians killed and 2,105 injured in September, an 85 per cent rise from a year earlier.
• Strikes on Kyiv’s three main power stations in October left 600,000 people without electricity, according to UN News.
• France 24 reported that security guarantees were expected to top the agenda for the two-day Abu Dhabi talks scheduled to start on 10 November.

Civilian casualties and power outages in Ukraine

UN News reported 328 civilian deaths and 2,105 injuries in September, describing the combined toll as 85 per cent higher than in September a year earlier. It also reported that at least 43 people were killed when Russian bombs hit an aid shelter in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, on 2 November.

What Russia, Ukraine and the US planned to discuss

France 24 described the two-day meeting, scheduled to start on Tuesday, 10 November, as the first trilateral talks since February. Security guarantees were expected to top the agenda; US officials argued that a broader security architecture for Europe should be part of any peace deal.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had also identified security guarantees, an energy ceasefire, access to the Black Sea, extended prisoner exchanges and preparations for a meeting of the leaders as key topics for Ukraine, DW reported. RTÉ said Ukrainian delegates were scheduled to brief European allies separately. Ukraine’s delegation head, Rustem Umerov, said: “We are doing everything to ensure that Europe is a participant in the diplomatic process,” according to RTÉ.

The negotiations were scheduled amid continued fighting along a 1,200-kilometre front line and escalated long-range drone and missile attacks by both sides, France 24 reported. Russia’s stated demands included Ukrainian withdrawal from four regions Moscow annexed in 2022, abandoning Ukraine’s NATO bid, limits on its military, and changes concerning the Russian language and the Moscow-affiliated Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

RTÉ reported that European officials, including representatives from France, Germany and the European Commission, were expected in Abu Dhabi, while Russia had said it did not want Europeans taking part in the negotiations. Officials in Kyiv said the talks were scheduled to begin around 6:30 a.m. Irish time on 10 November. Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s leverage was increasing, citing recent battlefield performance and the retaking of some territory in Donetsk, RTÉ reported.

What the meeting means

The reported September toll and October power cuts put civilian harm and energy disruption in view as negotiators prepared to meet. UN News’s warning that further energy strikes threatened millions with a cold, dark winter described the stakes for households; France 24 reported that fighting and long-range attacks continued while the talks were scheduled.