KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – A Russian drone strike on Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa resulted in the tragic deaths of two women and a two-year-old child, according to authorities on Monday. The attack, which occurred at night, inflicted severe damage on an apartment building, leading rescuers to extricate four individuals from the wreckage.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that eleven people were hospitalized due to the attack, which included a pregnant woman and two children, the youngest being less than a year old. This incident marks another grim chapter in the ongoing conflict, during which Russia has relentlessly targeted civilian areas of Ukraine since its invasion commenced just over four years ago, with more than 15,000 lives claimed according to United Nations estimates.
In parallel, Russia has intensified its assaults on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Zelenskyy noted that recent aerial barrages have impacted energy facilities across the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Dnipro regions. In the northern Chernihiv region alone, over 300,000 households were left without electricity following damage to distribution facilities due to these attacks.
Over the past week, Russia launched an extensive barrage against Ukraine, deploying more than 2,800 attack drones, nearly 1,350 powerful glide bombs, and over 40 missiles of various types, as detailed by Zelenskyy. He expressed concern about the ongoing conflict in Iran potentially draining Ukraine's weapons stockpiles, particularly the critically needed American-made Patriot air defense systems capable of intercepting missiles.
Zelenskyy urged Ukraine's allies to bolster air defense measures to increase the interception rate of incoming drones and missiles. He emphasized that with ongoing U.S.-led peace efforts stalled, it appears that Russia has no intention of halting its invasion.
In response, Ukraine has made significant advancements in developing its own long-range drones, enabling them to strike targets located approximately 1,500 kilometers (about 900 miles) inside Russian territory. Recently, these drones have been utilized to target Russian oil facilities, as Moscow seeks to ramp up oil exports following a waiver from U.S. sanctions, which has raised concerns in Kyiv about the potential for Russia to use the increased revenue to fund its military operations against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that its air defenses successfully intercepted 50 Ukrainian drones during the same night. Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev reported that eight individuals, including two children, sustained injuries due to a series of Ukrainian drone strikes on Novorossiisk, one of Russia's largest Black Sea ports. This attack resulted in damage to six apartment buildings and two private homes.
Unverified media sources indicated that the drones specifically targeted the Sheskharis oil terminal situated at the Black Sea port. Moreover, in a related incident last week, Ukrainian drone strikes were reported to have hit oil facilities in the Gulf of Finland, further emphasizing the escalating conflict and its regional implications.
