Russian Missile Strike Kills Seven in Ukraine’s Odesa

A Russian ballistic missile strike killed at least seven people and injured 15 others in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region on Friday, according to local authorities, with port infrastructure reportedly targeted in the attack.

Odesa regional governor Oleg Kiper said the missile hit port facilities, triggering a fire in a truck parking area. “The enemy struck the port infrastructure of the Odesa region—seven people were killed and 15 wounded,” he wrote in a social media post.

The attack comes amid intensified Russian strikes on the strategically important Black Sea region in recent weeks. Odesa’s logistics and energy infrastructure have repeatedly been hit, including damage to a bridge near the Moldovan border that left hundreds of thousands without electricity and heating during freezing weather.

Foreign-flagged civilian vessels docked at regional ports have also been damaged in recent attacks, highlighting the growing risks to maritime activity in the area.

Earlier on Friday, Ukraine said it had struck a Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker in neutral waters of the Mediterranean Sea—its first such strike outside the Black Sea during the nearly four-year war. Similar vessels were targeted earlier this month in the Black Sea, according to Kyiv.

Friday’s missile strike occurred amid renewed diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, as US, Ukrainian and European officials met for another round of talks. Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Moscow would expand attacks on Ukrainian ports and could seek to fully block Ukraine’s access to the sea if strikes on Russian tankers continued.