Kathmandu, Russia has significantly intensified its military campaign against Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, launching a series of “non-stop” missile and drone strikes that have crippled local infrastructure. According to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba, these systematic attacks have targeted critical port facilities and energy grids, resulting in widespread blackouts and several civilian casualties. Over the past week, Odesa has endured some of the most intense aerial assaults since the war began, with ballistic missiles hitting the port of Pivdennyi and storage tanks containing food supplies. Local officials confirmed that a recent strike on a port facility killed at least eight people and injured dozens more after a passenger bus was caught in the crossfire.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has characterized these strikes as a deliberate effort by Moscow to sever Ukraine’s access to global maritime trade routes. This escalation follows a direct threat from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who recently warned that Russia would respond to Ukrainian drone attacks on its “shadow fleet.” The shadow fleet refers to a secretive network of hundreds of tankers used by Russia to bypass Western oil sanctions and fund its war efforts. Last Friday, Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency claimed a historic first-of-its-kind strike on one of these tankers, the Qendil, in the Mediterranean Sea—more than 2,000 km from Ukrainian territory. In retaliation, Russian forces have not only targeted Odesa’s ports but also damaged the strategic bridge over the mouth of the Dniester River, which serves as a vital road link to Moldova and Romania.
As of Tuesday, over 120,000 customers in the Odesa region remain without electricity, and energy providers like DTEK have warned that restoring the heavily damaged facilities will take considerable time. Despite the humanitarian crisis and the ongoing strikes, Ukrainian officials maintain that they will continue to target Russian maritime assets wherever they are found. Meanwhile, the international community continues to monitor the situation closely, as the disruption of Odesa’s ports threatens global food security and complicates the already fragile maritime logistics in the Black Sea.
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