Get Instant Loan up to ₹10 Lakh!
Russian Drone Barrage Cuts Power in Ukraine’s Odesa Region
Russia hit Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa with a massive drone strike overnight, just hours after top officials from the Kremlin and the US concluded their first round of talks aimed at ending the war.
Russia hit Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa with a massive drone strike overnight, just hours after top officials from the Kremlin and the US concluded their first round of talks aimed at ending the war.
The attack injured at least four people and left 160,000 without power and heating in Odesa with temperatures dropping well below freezing, local authorities said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the attack was the latest evidence against Russian claims that its military wasn’t targeting the country’s civilian infrastructure as the war approaches its three-year mark. The Ukrainian leader placed it in the context of Tuesday’s meeting in Saudi Arabia between negotiators dispatched by President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“Just yesterday, after the infamous meeting in Riyadh, it became known that Russian representatives once again lied about not attacking the energy sector,” Zelenskiy said in a post on X on Wednesday following the barrage. “Russia is run by pathological liars, and they cannot be trusted — they must be pressured for the sake of peace.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday brushed off what he described as a proposal from the US to suspend attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. He said Moscow’s troops never endangered civilian power systems and only hit military facilities.
Ukraine wasn’t invited to attend the US-Russia talks in the Saudi capital, leaving Zelenskiy concerned that the US approach will hurt his country’s interests.
US special envoy Keith Kellogg arrived in Kyiv early Wednesday to continue consultations on ending the war as Zelenskiy ditched his plans for a trip to Riyadh, where he expected to be briefed on the talks.
Russia launched 167 unmanned areal vehicles of different types and two Iskander missiles over Ukraine overnight, out of which 106 drones were shot down, Ukraine’s Air Defense said in a post on Telegram.
Meanwhile, Ukraine continued its string of attacks against Russia’s energy infrastructure with a drone strike hitting the Syzran refinery in Russia’s Volga region overnight.
The attack didn’t result in casualties or major damage, according to local governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev. Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft PJSC, which owns the facility, didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Ukraine has intensified its attacks in Russia over the past several weeks, targeting not just oil-processing plants but also crude-pipeline infrastructure including the Andreapol pumping station on the Baltic System Pipeline-2 route, and the CPC pipe delivering mainly Kazakh crude oil to the Black Sea shore.
The strikes are intended to complicate oil logistics for Russia and curtail fuel supplies to its military forces occupying Ukrainian territories, Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces said earlier this week.
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
MoreLess
First Published:19 Feb 2025, 05:00 PM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High