Russian ballistic missiles struck the port of Odesa in southern Ukraine, killing eight people and wounding 27, emergency services said on Saturday.
Odesa Strike Claims Lives and Wounds
Emergency services posted a Telegram message that some of the wounded were on a bus at the center of the strike. Trucks caught fire in the parking lot and cars were also damaged. The port was hit with ballistic missiles, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa region.
Moscow did not immediately acknowledge reports of the attack. The Russian Defense Ministry said over the previous day it had struck unspecified “transport and storage infrastructure used by the Ukrainian armed forces,” along with energy facilities and those supplying Kyiv’s war effort.
Ukrainian Drones Strike Russian Assets
Ukrainian drones hit a Russian oil rig, the patrol ship Okhotnik and other facilities, Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement Saturday. The ship was patrolling in the Caspian Sea near an oil and gas production platform. The extent of the damage was still being clarified.
The drilling platform at the Filanovsky oil and gas field was also hit. The facility is operated by Russian oil giant Lukoil. Ukrainian drones also struck a radar system in the Krasnosilske area of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
There was no immediate comment from the Russian government or Lukoil. The company is one of two Russian oil majors-alongside state-owned Gazprom-targeted by recent U.S. sanctions that aim to deprive Moscow of oil export revenue that helps it sustain the war.
Kyiv has used similar arguments to justify months of long-range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, which it says both funds and directly fuels the Kremlin’s all-out invasion, soon to enter its fifth year.
Diplomatic Momentum in the U.S. and Europe
U.S. President Donald Trump has unleashed an extensive diplomatic push to end the war, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently signaled he is digging in on his maximalist demands on Ukraine, as Moscow’s troops inch forward on the battlefield despite huge losses.
On Friday, Putin voiced confidence that the Kremlin would achieve its goals militarily if Kyiv doesn’t agree to Russia’s conditions in peace talks.
European Union leaders on Friday agreed to provide 90 billion euros ($106 billion) to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years, although they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to raise the funds. Instead, they were borrowed on capital markets.
The International Monetary Fund estimates that Ukraine will need 137 billion euros in 2026 and 2027. The government in Kyiv is on the verge of bankruptcy, and desperately needs the money by spring.
Meanwhile, Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin’s envoy, is set to meet with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Miami on Saturday, according to a U.S. official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview a meeting that hasn’t yet been publicly announced.
The official said Witkoff and Kushner will sit down with Dmitriev, after meetings with Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin for talks on U.S. security guarantees for Kyiv, territorial concessions and other aspects of the American-authored plan.
Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov said late Friday that a Ukrainian delegation had met with American and European partners in the U.S. He gave few details, but said they agreed to continue “joint work in the near future.”
Asked about the meeting in Miami, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that Moscow was preparing for contacts with the U.S. to learn about the results of the meetings in Berlin, but he didn’t give details.
Key Takeaways
- Russian ballistic missiles hit Odesa port, killing 8 and wounding 27.
- Ukrainian drones struck a Russian oil rig, patrol ship Okhotnik, and a radar system in Crimea.
- Trump’s peace push continues amid EU aid and Russian sanctions on oil majors.
The latest strike underscores the escalating violence in Ukraine, while diplomatic efforts in the U.S. and Europe aim to forge a path toward peace amid mounting financial pressure on Kyiv and relentless Russian military pressure on its borders.
