A Russian drone strike on Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa led to the killing of two women and a toddler, officials reported on Monday, while Ukrainian long-range drones hit a major Russian Black Sea oil export hub.
The overnight assault on Odesa caused severe damage to an apartment building, resulting in the deaths of the two women and a two-year-old child. Emergency crews working under floodlights managed to pull four survivors from the debris.
Eleven people were taken to hospital, including a pregnant woman and two children—the youngest under one year old—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
Russia has relentlessly targeted civilian areas in Ukraine since launching its invasion more than four years ago, with over 15,000 people killed, according to United Nations estimates.
Energy infrastructure has also been a frequent target. Zelenskyy said overnight strikes hit facilities in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Dnipro regions. In the northern Chernihiv region alone, more than 3,00,000 households lost electricity after distribution systems were damaged, regional power officials said.
Over the past week, Russia has fired more than 2,800 attack drones, nearly 1,350 glide bombs and over 40 missiles of various types at Ukraine, Zelenskyy noted.
Also read: Russian and Chinese diplomats discuss Iran war
In an interview, Zelenskyy warned that the ongoing conflict involving Iran is depleting global weapons stockpiles, including critical U.S.-made Patriot air defence systems that Ukraine relies on to intercept missiles.
He reiterated on Monday that Ukraine’s allies ‘must strengthen air defence together so that the interception rate of drones and missiles continues to improve’. With U.S.-backed peace initiatives stalled, he added, “Russia has no intention of stopping its offensive.”
Ukraine, meanwhile, has intensified its counterattacks by advancing its own long-range drone capabilities, now able to strike targets up to 1,500 kilometres (900 miles) inside Russian territory.
These drones have recently been used to target Russian oil infrastructure, as Moscow seeks to expand exports following a temporary sanctions waiver granted by the Trump administration to ease supply pressures. Ukrainian officials argue that the increased revenue will be used to fund further attacks.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defences intercepted 50 Ukrainian drones overnight. Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev reported that eight people, including two children, were injured in Ukrainian drone strikes on Novorossiisk, one of Russia’s largest Black Sea ports. He said six apartment buildings and two private homes were damaged.
Unconfirmed reports from local media suggested the drones may have targeted the Sheskharis oil terminal at the port.
Last week, Ukrainian drones also struck oil facilities in Russia’s Gulf of Finland region in the northwest.
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