Russian drones strike Ukrainian city of Odesa, underlining challenges
for even limited truce
[March 22, 2025]
By ILLIA NOVIKOV
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drones pummeled the Ukrainian Black Sea
port city of Odesa, injuring three people and sparking massive fires,
officials said Friday, an attack that underlined Moscow's intention to
pursue aerial strikes even as it agreed to temporarily halt strikes on
energy facilities.
The head of the Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, said the city suffered “local
emergency power outages” in three of its districts, an indication that
the energy infrastructure of the city could have been damaged.
Reacting to the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said
that "joint pressure on Russia, strengthening sanctions and defense
support for our state ... is the way to stop such terror and Russia’s
prolongation of the war."
“We expect real pressure on Russia from the U.S., Europe and all our
partners,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram. “This is what will
allow diplomacy to work.”
Russia, meanwhile, accused Ukraine of blowing up a gas facility in the
Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have launched an incursion, in
violation of the ceasefire deal. Ukraine denies the accusations.
Russian drone attack sparks massive blazes in Odesa
The strike came shortly before Czech Republic President Petr Pavel
visited Odesa on Friday morning, meeting with the city's leaders and
officials from other southern regions.
“This is another reminder to the whole world: the war continues and
Ukraine continues to fight,” Kiper said in a statement. He said there
were blazes at at least three locations after the attack late Thursday.
“Civilian infrastructure, commercial facilities are on fire, cars
damaged,” Kiper said.
Over 70 people and 20 fire engines were involved in extinguishing what
the emergency services called “massive fires.”
Russia accuses Ukraine of blowing up natural gas facility in the
Kursk region
Russia's Defense Ministry accused Ukrainian forces of blowing up a gas
metering station near the town of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk region, in
what it described as a “deliberate provocation by the Kyiv regime, which
is part of a series of recent strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure
in order to discredit the U.S. president’s peaceful initiatives.”
Ukraine’s military General Staff rejected Moscow’s accusations and
blamed the Russian military for shelling the Sudzha gas metering station
as part of Russia’s “discrediting campaign.”
The gas metering station serves a major pipeline that had pumped
Russia's natural gas to Europe until supplies were halted last year.
Views differ on what is covered by the truce
Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle Wednesday to a limited ceasefire
after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with the countries’ leaders this
week, though it remained to be seen what possible targets would be off
limits to attack.
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In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service,
firefighters put out the fire at a storehouse following a Russian
attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Friday, March 21, 2025. (Ukrainian
Emergency Service via AP)
The three sides appeared to hold starkly different views about what
the deal covered. While the White House said “energy and
infrastructure” would be covered, the Kremlin declared that the
agreement referred more narrowly to “energy infrastructure.”
Zelenskyy said he would also like railways and ports to be
protected.
Zelenskyy told reporters after Wednesday's call with Trump that
“technical” talks in Saudi Arabia this weekend would seek to resolve
what types of infrastructure would be protected from attack under
the agreement.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine and U.S. negotiators will discuss technical
details related to the partial ceasefire during a meeting in Saudi
Arabia on Monday. Russian negotiators are set to hold separate talks
with U.S. officials there.
I can’t tell you how the meeting will end,” Zelenskyy said, speaking
talking with the Czech leader. “It will be good if the meeting ends
with a result that brings us closer to a full ceasefire”
Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine is open to a full, 30-day
ceasefire that Trump has proposed, saying “we will not be against
any format, any steps toward unconditional ceasefire.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a complete ceasefire
conditional on a halt of arms supplies to Kyiv and a suspension of
Ukraine's military mobilization — demands rejected by Ukraine and
its Western allies.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized Friday that the agreement
reached between Trump and Putin referred only to energy facilities,
adding that the Russian military is fulfilling Putin’s order to halt
such attacks for 30 days.
“The Russian military are currently refraining from strikes on
Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in accordance with the agreement
reached between Russia and the United States,” Peskov said in a
conference call with reporters.
Other attacks reported by both sides
In another attack, Russian glide bombs injured at least six people,
including a child, in the Zaporizhzhia region overnight Thursday to
Friday. Regional head Ivan Fedorov published photos showing fire
fighters extinguishing flames at multiple damaged residential
buildings.
The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia fired 214 exploding
drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks. It said 114 of them
were intercepted and another 81 were jammed.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down 43 Ukrainian
drones, 34 of them over the Volgograd region and others over Rostov,
Kursk and Belgorod regions. The authorities didn’t report any
casualties or significant damage.
Meanwhile, a massive blaze at an oil depot in the Krasnodar region
has continued to rage since it was hit by a Ukrainian drone attack
late Wednesday.
___
Associated Press writer Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed
to this report.
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