Additional Coverage:
Escalation in Ukraine: Deadly Drone Strikes and Infrastructure Attacks Rock Both Sides
Odesa, Ukraine – A deadly drone attack in Ukraine’s southwestern Odesa region claimed at least two lives on Sunday, Ukrainian authorities reported. The strike, which targeted a car park on the Black Sea coast in the early hours of the morning, also left three individuals wounded, according to Odesa regional Governor Oleh Kiper and the State Emergency Service.
The attack on Odesa comes as Russia continues its relentless campaign against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, with the front-line Zaporizhzhia region experiencing significant power outages and casualties overnight into Sunday. Regional Governor Ivan Fedorov stated that nearly 60,000 residents were left without electricity, and two people sustained injuries in the drone and missile assaults. Fedorov shared images on Telegram depicting the devastation of buildings reduced to rubble.
Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo, confirmed that several regions were implementing rolling power cuts on Sunday as a direct consequence of the ongoing attacks on the nation’s power grid. These strikes are part of Russia’s sustained strategy to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter temperatures approach, aiming to disrupt essential centralized public services like water, sewage, and heating.
Analysts and officials indicate a shift in Moscow’s tactics this year, with a focus on specific regions and gas infrastructure. The effectiveness of these attacks has reportedly increased due to Russia deploying hundreds of drones, some equipped with cameras for improved targeting, which can overwhelm air defenses, particularly in less protected areas. The broader goal remains to erode Ukrainian morale and impede weapons manufacturing and other war-related activities, nearly four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone strike ignited an oil tanker and infrastructure at Russia’s Tuapse port on Sunday, according to regional officials. Social media channels circulated images appearing to show multiple blazes engulfing terminal structures and a tanker at the Black Sea port, though The Associated Press could not independently verify the footage.
Tuapse hosts a significant oil export terminal and a refinery owned by the state-owned Russian oil company Rosneft. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently claimed that Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russian refineries have reduced Moscow’s oil refining capacity by 20%, citing Western intelligence. Oil exports are a crucial funding source for Russia’s invasion, and these strikes, alongside new sanctions from the U.S. and the European Union, aim to curtail Moscow’s oil and gas export earnings.