Russian drones strike Ukrainian city of Odesa, underlining challenges for even limited truce

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out a fire at a storehouse following a Russian attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Friday, March 21, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian drones pummelled 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 defence 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 Defence 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.

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 Defence Ministry said air defences 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.

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By Illia Novikov, The Associated Press

Associated Press writer Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.