Russian drone strikes targeted civilian infrastructure in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa, leaving at least three people injured and several districts of the city battling power cuts while Czech President Petr Pavel was visiting for talks with officials.
The head of the Odesa region's military administration Oleh Kiper reported on March 21 that minors were among the three known injured in the strikes that sparked fires in various parts of the city.
The ASTRA Telegram channel, citing information in local media, said an apartment building, a shopping center, a store, and several businesses were among civilian infrastructure facilities hit in Odesa.
The strikes resulted in power outages in at least three districts of the city, according to the DTEK electricity company.
“This is yet another reminder to the entire world: the war continues, and Ukraine continues to fight,” Kiper wrote on Telegram.
A 30-day moratorium on strikes on energy infrastructure in the Russia-Ukraine war was agreed on March 18 at talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But since the Trump-Putin talks, Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of breaking the limited agreement and it appears to have had little impact on the course of the war.
Russia accused Kyiv on March 21 of blowing up a major gas pumping and measuring station in Russia's Kursk region near the border with Ukraine in what it called "an act of terrorism."
Russian and Ukrainian delegations are expected to meet separately with US officials in Saudi Arabia next week, though face-to-face meetings between the two are not expected to be held.
Hurting Odesa has been a priority for Russia in its three-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as Moscow looks to obstruct Kyiv's maritime access.
While Russia's hopes of reaching the strategic port with conventional forces faded in the first year of the war, it has continued to target it with regular strikes.
Strikes on January 31 damaged buildings on the UNESCO World Heritage list in Odesa's storied city center, including the Hotel Bristol, a luxury hotel built at the end of the 19th century.
Ukraine's Prosecutor-General's Office said Russian armed forces used ballistic missiles in that attack.
In a post on X on March 20, Pavel said Odesa "has been resisting Russian aggression since the beginning of the war.”
“The Czech Republic is sending aid here in the form of combat vehicles, drones, protective vests, and mobile jamming devices that protect residents from drone attacks, as well as medical equipment, such as ventilators and hospital beds," Pavel said.
Pavel met with Kiper, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba, and other Ukrainian officials to discuss cooperation.
Russian attacks late on March 21 killed two people in Zaporizhzhya, the regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said, adding that the attack caused three fires. Pictures posted on social media showed rescuers searching in the rubble and apartment blocks and homes with windows and facades badly damaged.
Two other people were killed on March 21 in the Sumy region on Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia when Russian forces dropped at least six guided bombs on the village of Krasnopillia, prosecutors said.
In eastern Donetsk region, prosecutors said Russian forces had dropped three bombs on the town of Kostyantynivka, killing one person.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said on March 21 that Kyiv was continuing to hold talks with the United States about a minerals deal.
“Ukraine was even ready to sign the agreement in Jeddah,” Heorhiy Tykhyy, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said, referring to the March 11 talks between US and Ukrainian representatives in Saudi Arabia.
Tykhyy said that US officials at that time requested additional consultations in Washington about the deal.
Trump said on March 20 that the United States would sign the minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine shortly.
