Ukraine: 3 Killed in Odesa, Kyiv Targets Russian Oil Exports

Russian air strikes in Odesa, Ukraine’s southern port city, resulted in at least three fatalities over the weekend, including a 2-year-old child. Local officials reported the incident occurred on Monday morning, with a drone attack hitting a residential building and leaving a 30-year-old woman, her 2-year-old daughter, and a 53-year-old woman among the dead. The region’s military governor, Oleh Kiper, stated in a statement that authorities are documenting the latest civilian casualties attributed to the aggressor state. “Residential and administrative structures were targeted,” he added, noting that rescue teams are still searching for survivors beneath the rubble.

Ukrainian forces have intensified their response by launching strikes on Russian oil infrastructure. The country’s leaders are seeking to disrupt Moscow’s energy exports, aiming to counteract increased global demand for Russian oil amid reduced supply from the Middle East due to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. Meanwhile, power outages affected approximately 340,000 households in Chernihiv region, according to local reports. The Russian military confirmed that over 150 of their drones were intercepted in the Belgorod border area on Sunday night, though nearly half a million Russian homes lost temporary electricity access.

“Law enforcement agencies are documenting the aggressor state’s latest war crimes against the civilian population,” said regional military governor Oleh Kiper.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged international allies to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, stressing that higher interception rates of drones and missiles are crucial. He noted that US-led peace initiatives have stalled, partly due to the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict, and warned that Russia shows no sign of halting its invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth year. “Russia gets additional money because of this,” Zelenskyy said during a visit to Syria, where he met with interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa. He reiterated the need for sustained air defense supply support, while expressing concerns that prolonged Iran-related tensions might reduce global support for Ukraine.

Separate drone attacks in Russia’s Leningrad region, near Nizhny Novgorod, and the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk were reported over the Easter weekend. Ukrainian forces claimed to have damaged a Russian warship in Novorossiysk. In the Belgorod region, at least one civilian was killed during cross-border attacks, while strikes on Sevastopol in Crimea and a wheat-laden cargo ship in the Sea of Azov were also confirmed.

On the eastern front, Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that his troops had reclaimed 480 square kilometers of territory since January. However, Russian forces continue to push for a buffer zone in Dnipropetrovsk, according to Syrskyi. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) observed that Ukrainian counterattacks near Pokrovsk in Donetsk are complicating Russian advances. Russian milbloggers, meanwhile, warned that damage to energy infrastructure will be “costly and time-consuming to repair,” citing supply chain issues and defensive shortcomings as ongoing challenges.