Russia has escalated its strikes on the southern region of Odesa in Ukraine, leading to extensive power outages and jeopardizing the area’s maritime infrastructure.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba remarked that Moscow is executing “systematic” assaults on the region. He cautioned last week that the focus of the conflict “may have shifted towards Odesa”.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the recurring assaults are a tactic by Moscow to obstruct Ukraine’s maritime logistics access.
Earlier in December, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of cutting off Ukraine’s sea access in response to drone strikes on Russia’s “shadow fleet” tankers in the Black Sea.
“Shadow fleet” designates the numerous tankers Russia utilizes to evade Western sanctions imposed after its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
On Monday evening, strikes affected port facilities in Odesa, damaging a civilian vessel, according to the regional governor.
This was the most recent in a sequence of hundreds of strikes that have disrupted power in the region for numerous days and resulted in various casualties.
On Sunday night, strikes left 120,000 individuals without electricity and ignited a fire at a significant port, destroying multiple containers of flour and vegetable oil.
Last week, a ballistic missile attack on the Pivdenniy port east of Odesa resulted in eight fatalities and at least 30 injuries.
Another strike earlier in the week claimed the life of a woman traveling in a vehicle with her three children and temporarily severed the only bridge connecting Ukraine and Moldova in the Odesa region.
Zelensky suggested that a new air force commander for the region would soon be appointed following the weekend dismissal of Dmytro Karpenko.
The port of Odesa has always been a vital part of the nation’s economy. The city ranks as Ukraine’s third largest after Kyiv and Kharkiv. It now holds strategic significance as other ports in the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Mykolayiv regions have become inaccessible to Ukraine due to Russian occupation.
In spite of the ongoing conflict, Ukraine remains among the leading global exporters of wheat and corn.
Since August 2023, Odesa has served as the starting point for a crucial corridor that enables the export of grain out of the country, tracing the coastlines of Romania and Bulgaria before arriving in Turkey.
Zelensky, who has previously accused Russia of “spreading chaos” among the people of Odesa, asserted that “everyone must recognize that without pressure on Russia, they have no desire to genuinely cease their aggression”.
His remarks followed the conclusion of the latest round of US-led diplomatic efforts in Miami. The US separately engaged with the Ukrainian and Russian delegations, resulting in optimistic statements but no definitive progress toward ending Moscow’s nearly four-year-long war on Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff reported that he and his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov had worked on “aligning positions” regarding a 20-point draft peace plan proposed by Ukraine earlier this month. This plan serves as an alternative to a proposal presented by the US in November, perceived as favorable to Moscow.
Before Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev could even return to Moscow from Florida, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov informed journalists that European and Ukrainian adjustments to the peace proposal would not improve the likelihood of achieving peace.
On Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov accused EU nations of harboring a “strong intention” to obstruct possible Russia-US agreements on Ukraine and to “generally hinder the improvement of Russia-American relations”.
He also mentioned that European countries were “consumed by a maniacal” fear of a Russian attack. Russia was prepared to confirm through a legal agreement that it had no intention of assaulting either the EU or NATO, Ryabkov remarked, echoing earlier statements from Putin.
“We’ve never intended to [attack Europe], but if they wish to hear it from us, then let’s formalize it in writing,” Putin stated in November.
Russia also executed an early morning aerial assault on the capital Kyiv on Tuesday.
“Air defense forces are addressing the threat in the skies above the capital,” announced the Kyiv military administration. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damages from officials.
