Russia launches attack at Odesa region, cutting power for thousands

Russia launched a large-scale attack on the region of Odesa early Friday, local authorities reported.

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Ukrainian air defence forces were able to intercept almost all of the drones, but roughly 4,000 people were left without power in the south of region due to damage to power lines, regional head Oleh Kiper wrote on Telegram.

“Power engineers are already working to restore power,” Kiper wrote. No injuries were reported.

Russian drones also struck three commercial ships flying the flags of Vanuatu, the Comoros and Panama in the Black Sea which were moving along the Ukrainian maritime corridor, Kiper said.

“As a result of the hits, fires broke out, which were extinguished by the crews,” he wrote, adding that two crew members were injured on one vessel but did not need to be hospitalised.

The Izmail port, across the border from Romania’s Galați, also came under attack from drones early on Friday, local authorities said.

A Russian drone that was part of the overnight attack on Ukraine crashed into a residential building in the eastern Romanian city, sparking a fire on the roof of the apartment block.

The building was evacuated and two people were injured, Oana Toiu, Romania’s foreign minister, said.

The attack in the NATO member country drew widespread criticism from across Europe and the alliance itself. It is not the first time that the airspace of a NATO member is violated, as there have been a string of drone-related incidents reported across Europe in the past few months.

Odesa, Ukraine’s third-largest city, along with its ports, has recently come under sustained Russian attacks aimed at restricting Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea and damaging its economy.

Meanwhile, in the south eastern of the country, Zaporizhzhia also came under Russian fire on Friday, the State Emergency Service said.

The attack damaged residential buildings and injured one woman.

According to Ukraine’s Air Defence, Russian forces launched 232 drones against Ukraine regions overnight, 217 of which were intercepted.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote the country is preparing itself for another large-scale Russian attack.

“We have intelligence data indicating that Russia is preparing for a new massive attack,” he wrote on X. “It is important that all our partners know what is happening and that Russia continues to rely on missiles and further war, not diplomatic steps”.