A Russian ballistic missile strike on port facilities in Odesa, southern Ukraine, has killed at least eight people and injured 27 others, Ukrainian authorities said, as Moscow ramps up its offensive in the strategically vital Black Sea region while negotiations to end the war remain deadlocked.
The strike late on Friday targeted key logistics infrastructure near the port, igniting fires that engulfed parked trucks and leaving several civilians trapped inside a bus close to the impact zone. Emergency crews worked through the night to rescue survivors and contain the blaze, officials said.
Ukrainian authorities described the attack as part of a sustained Russian campaign against Odesa’s civilian and economic infrastructure. The bombardment has left more than two million residents without electricity, water or heating for days, exacerbating suffering during the conflict’s fourth winter amid freezing temperatures.
Russia struck the port again on Saturday, hitting fuel reservoirs in what Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said was a deliberate attempt to disrupt civilian supply chains and humanitarian logistics.
Fighting Intensifies on Multiple Fronts
The escalation comes as both sides continue exchanging strikes across several regions, even as United States-led diplomatic efforts and high-level European meetings seek a path toward ending the war.
Russia claimed on Saturday that its forces had captured the villages of Svitle in eastern Donetsk and Vysoke in northeastern Sumy, though the claims could not be independently verified.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has expanded its counteroffensive against Russian military and energy assets. On Friday night, Ukrainian drones struck the Filanovsky oil platform operated by Russian energy giant Lukoil in the Caspian Sea, as well as a nearby military patrol vessel.
The strike marked the first officially acknowledged Ukrainian attack on drilling infrastructure in the Caspian, though the platform had reportedly been hit twice earlier in December.
Between December 14 and 15, Ukrainian forces also used maritime drones to attack a Russian Kilo-class submarine at the Novorossiysk Naval Base in the Black Sea, according to an assessment by United Kingdom Defence Intelligence.
Diplomatic Push Continues in Miami
The renewed violence unfolded as American and European officials convened in Miami for weekend talks aimed at ending the nearly four-year conflict. Delegations from both Russia and Ukraine are also present, though meeting separately.
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev confirmed on Saturday that he was travelling to Miami. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would not force Kyiv into a settlement, though he described the conflict as “not our war.”
Negotiations are being led by U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner alongside Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov, with officials from the UK, France and Germany also involved. Russian representatives, including Dmitriev, are holding parallel discussions with American officials.
Territorial concessions remain the central sticking point. Reports suggest Washington is urging Kyiv to consider ceding parts of eastern Donetsk, a proposal Ukraine has firmly rejected.
Russian President Vladimir Putin showed little willingness to compromise during his annual televised question-and-answer session on Friday, pledging to press ahead with military operations and predicting further battlefield gains before year’s end.
Putin reiterated demands that Ukraine relinquish all territory claimed by Russian forces in four occupied regions, as well as Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014. He also called for Ukrainian troops to withdraw from areas of eastern Ukraine not yet fully under Russian control — conditions Kyiv has dismissed outright.
War Grinds On as Support for Ukraine Grows
Despite Putin’s confident rhetoric, developments on the ground have challenged Moscow’s narrative of inevitable victory. Ukrainian forces have regained control over most of the northern city of Kupiansk after isolating Russian units, contradicting Russian claims of full capture.
Russian troops have also failed to dislodge Ukrainian defenders from Pokrovsk in eastern Donetsk, further undermining assertions of decisive territorial control.
Ukraine received a significant boost on Friday when European leaders agreed to provide a €90bn ($105bn) loan to support its military and economic needs over the next two years.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who met Polish President Karol Nawrocki in Warsaw the same day, said the funds would be used for defence if the war continues, or for reconstruction if peace is achieved.
As negotiations drag on without a breakthrough, the fighting shows no sign of slowing, with Russia maintaining control over large swathes of eastern Ukraine and the Black Sea coastline — and civilians continuing to bear the brunt of the war.