Waves of Russian drones pounded the Ukrainian port city of Odesa overnight, setting it ablaze in an attack that underscored Moscow’s intent to continue aerial assaults despite agreeing to a temporary pause in strikes on energy infrastructure. Videos circulating on social media showed fires erupting in several parts of Odesa. The regional governor, Oleh Kiper, said Russian drones struck a high-rise residential building, a shopping centre, and several infrastructure targets. The Czech president, Petr Pavel, was in the city when Russia unleashed the waves of drone attacks. “Significantly, it was during our meeting that the enemy once again massively attacked the Odesa region,” Kiper said on the Telegram messaging app. Ukraine and Russia have agreed in principle to a limited ceasefire after the US president, Donald Trump, spoke with the countries’ leaders this week. But uncertainty remains about how or when the part-ceasefire will take effect as both Ukraine and Russia prepare to send delegations to Riyadh next week for parallel talks with the US. It was immediately clear that the three parties had different views about what the pact entailed, with the White House saying “energy and infrastructure” would be covered, the Kremlin saying the agreement referred more narrowly to “energy infrastructure”, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying he’d also like railways and ports to be protected. On Friday, the Kremlin claimed that Vladimir Putin’s order for Russian forces to temporarily halt their attacks on energy infrastructure remained in force, but stressed that the agreement only covered “energy infrastructure”, and not “energy and infrastructure”. Russia also accused Ukraine of violating the part-ceasefire, citing a strike that took place before Zelenskyy formally agreed to the truce. Moscow’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, told Russia’s Channel One on Thursday evening that Ukraine had breached a proposed 30-day ceasefire on energy infrastructure by striking a Russian oil depot on Tuesday night, though that strike came before Zelenskyy’s call with Trump the next day where he agreed in principle to the US-brokered proposal. The Ukrainian side has also accused Russia of violating its pledges. Hours after Putin’s phone call with Trump on Tuesday, Zelensky said there had been “hits, specifically on civilian infrastructure”, including a hospital in Sumy. Meanwhile, Moscow appeared to be exploiting the window before any ceasefire takes hold, launching drones at Odesa as well as shelling the southern region of Zaporizhzhia. In a separate incident, a pumping station that serves as a critical hub for Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine caught fire on Friday morning, with both sides trading blame. Moscow accused Ukraine of striking the facility, while Ukraine’s general staff denied responsibility, claiming instead that it had been “repeatedly shelled by the Russians themselves”. Russia’s investigative committee said the gas station “was significantly damaged in the blast” While much of Europe has cut its reliance on Russian gas, countries sympathetic to Moscow – including Hungary, and Slovakia – still buy it, with all supplies flowing through the town of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk region.
Author: Pjotr Sauer