Russian drone strikes targeted civilian infrastructure in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa, leaving at least three people injured and several districts of the city battling power cuts while Czech President Petr Pavel was visiting for talks with officials.
The head of the Odesa region’s military administration Oleh Kiper reported on March 21 that minors were among the three known injured in the strikes that sparked fires in various parts of the city.
The ASTRA Telegram channel, citing information in local media, said an apartment building, a shopping center, a store, and several businesses were among civilian infrastructure facilities hit in Odesa.
The strikes resulted in power outages in at least three districts of the city, according to the DTEK electricity company.
“This is yet another reminder to the entire world: the war continues, and Ukraine continues to fight,” Kiper wrote on Telegram.
A 30-day moratorium on strikes on energy infrastructure in the Russia-Ukraine war was agreed on March 18 at talks between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
But since that agreement, Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of breaking the limited agreement and it appears to have had little impact on the course of the war.
Russia accused Kyiv on March 21 of blowing up a major gas pumping and measuring station in Russia’s Kursk region near the border with Ukraine in what it called “an act of terrorism.”
Russian and Ukrainian delegations are expected to meet separately with US officials in Saudi Arabia next week, though face-to-face meetings between the two are not expected to be held.
Hurting Odesa has been a priority for Russia in its three-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as Moscow looks to obstruct Kyiv’s maritime access.
While Russia’s hopes of reaching the strategic port with conventional forces faded in the first year of the war, it has continued to target it with regular strikes.
Strikes on January 31 damaged buildings on the UNESCO World Heritage list in Odesa’s storied city center, including the Hotel Bristol, a luxury hotel built at the end of the 19th century.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor-General’s Office said Russian armed forces used ballistic missiles in that attack.
In a post on X on the evening of March 20, Czech President Petr Pavel said Odesa “has been resisting Russian aggression since the beginning of the war.”
“The Czech Republic is sending aid here in the form of combat vehicles, drones, protective vests, and mobile jamming devices that protect residents from drone attacks, as well as medical equipment, such as ventilators and hospital beds,” Pavel said.
Pavel was meeting with Kiper, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba, and other Ukrainian officials to discuss cooperation.
During a press-conference with his Moldovan counterpart Maia Sandu in Chisinau on March 20, Pavel said that Ukraine may have to give up territory for peace, but called on Kyiv’s European allies “to support Ukraine by all means, including a possible military presence” to keep a lasting peace once the war ends.
Along with Odesa, the Ukrainian Air Force said that Khmelnytskiy, Sumy, and Kyiv regions were the focus of the Russian drone attacks late on March 20.
The Air Force said that 114 of the 214 drones were shot down and a further 81 redirected from their targets with the help of electronic warfare.
Meanwhile, in the southeastern Zaporizhzhya region, at least six people were injured in a nighttime drone strike, including a four-year-old boy, local authorities said.
