Six individuals lost their lives in Russian airstrikes carried out in Ukraine overnight, targeting the city of Odesa and energy infrastructure, as per official reports. Despite pressure from the United States to negotiate a peace agreement with Kyiv, Moscow has intensified its assaults on critical Ukrainian infrastructure in recent weeks.
The Ukrainian air force disclosed that Russia launched a missile and 154 drones overnight, cautioning that some unmanned aerial vehicles were still present in Ukrainian airspace as of the morning following the attacks. In the eastern city of Kramatorsk, three men and a boy were fatally wounded late Thursday, according to local authorities.
Concurrently, Russia announced that a fresh round of discussions with US and Ukrainian officials to facilitate an end to the ongoing conflict would occur next week. Previous talks brokered by the US in Abu Dhabi failed to yield progress, with Moscow and Kyiv remaining at odds over territorial disputes.
Russian military forces have been advancing towards the industrial center, a major civilian stronghold in the Donetsk region that remains under Ukrainian control. Ukraine’s rights ombudsman confirmed that casualties included 19-year-old twins and their eight-year-old sibling.
In the Zaporizhzhia region, which Russia asserts as part of its territory along with Donetsk, a 48-year-old man succumbed to injuries in a drone attack, as relayed by emergency services. The gravest destruction was recorded in the Odesa region, where a person perished in a Russian assault on port facilities.
DTEK, the largest private energy company in Ukraine, reported severe damage to its energy infrastructure due to the attack in Odesa, necessitating substantial time for repairs and restoration to operational status. Following the overnight assaults, around 300,000 residents in the Black Sea city were left without access to water.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Munich for meetings with European and US officials to garner support ahead of the upcoming negotiations. Additionally, he visited a Ukrainian-German drone manufacturing facility during his visit.