Russian strikes kill 2 in Odesa, knock out power in Kharkiv

KYIV: Russian missiles and drones hammered two Ukrainian cities overnight, officials said on Tuesday, killing at least two and wounding 23 in the Black Sea hub of Odesa and knocking out power in much of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.

The separate attacks were the latest in Moscow's winter campaign of air strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, with Kyiv under pressure to agree to a U.S.-backed peace deal to end the nearly four-year war.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had launched more than 50 drones at Odesa in what he described as a "brutal" attack on the city, as Ukrainian and Russian negotiators prepare for new talks on Sunday.


"Every such Russian strike erodes the diplomacy that is still ongoing and undermines the efforts of partners who are helping to end this war," Zelenskiy wrote on X.

ENERGY FACILITIES TARGETED
The head of Odesa's military administration, Serhiy Lysak, posted images on the Telegram app of the two separate apartment buildings where residents were killed.

One depicted a mangled facade marked by shattered windows. In the other, the building was ripped open across most of its length.

The governor of the Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, said two children and a pregnant woman were among the 23 wounded, and that several apartments in multi-storey buildings, a church, a kindergarten and a high school were damaged.

The attack also led to the "colossal destruction" of an energy facility in the city, leading private power provider DTEK said in a statement.

In Kharkiv, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said late on Monday that a combined Russian missile and drone attack had knocked out power to about 80% of the city and the surrounding region.

In comments to Ukrainian television on Tuesday, Kharkiv's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said about 40% of consumers had no electricity.

Ukraine's air force said Russian troops had launched 165 drones overnight - 135 of them neutralised by Ukrainian air defences.

In western Ukraine's Lviv region, which borders NATO-member Poland, an infrastructure facility also came under Russian attack in the city of Brody, local officials said.

The city council reported heavy smoke and an unpleasant smell due to burning oil products. Classes in schools were cancelled, the council said, and it asked people to stay indoors and to seal doors and windows.

Separately, Ukrainian state oil and gas firm Naftogaz said a Russian strike had targeted one of its facilities in a western region in the 15th deliberate attack on its infrastructure in this month alone.

ZELENSKIY CALLS FOR MORE PRESSURE ON MOSCOW
Russian and Ukrainian officials are expected to hold another round of U.S.-brokered talks on Sunday after meeting last weekend in Abu Dhabi.

Writing on X, Zelenskiy urged Kyiv's allies to step up pressure on Moscow, which has demanded Ukraine give up land that Russian forces have been unable to conquer before it stops fighting.

"We expect the United States, Europe, and other partners not to remain silent about this and to remember that achieving real peace requires pressure precisely on Moscow."