Russian drones target Odessa as winter strikes deepen Ukraine's crisis
Russia launches large-scale overnight drone attacks on Ukraine, damaging Odessa and other regions as Ukraine confirmed casualties and power disruptions.
A Russian overnight drone attack struck Ukraine’s southern Odessa region, damaging energy, gas and residential infrastructure, regional governor Oleh Kiper said.
One person was injured, Kiper said in a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app.
He added that a “critical infrastructure” facility was also hit, without providing further details.
In the Odessa district, a drone hit a multi-storey residential building. Two apartments, the facade of the building, windows, and vehicles parked nearby were damaged, he said.
The regional strike came as Russia launched a wider overnight drone assault across Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that two people were killed and dozens were wounded nationwide.
He said more than 200 drones targeted multiple regions, including Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi and Odessa.
Ukraine’s military reported around 30 strikes across 15 locations.
One of the deaths occurred in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
Kharkiv has suffered heavy damage to energy facilities in recent days, he added.
The location of the second fatality was not immediately clear.
Major cities, including the capital Kiev, have faced power cuts and heating disruptions.
Russia has intensified winter strikes on Ukraine’s power grid as freezing temperatures deepen the humanitarian strain.
Kiev faces US pressure to secure peace in the nearly four-year-old war as US and Ukrainian negotiators hashed out a post-war plan in the latest round of peace talks.