KYIV: Overnight Russian strikes on Odesa and Kharkiv killed at least three people, Ukrainian officials said early Monday.
Iranian-made drones pummelled the southern port city of Odesa, igniting fires and damaging apartment buildings and a gas pipeline, according to Sergiy Lysak, head of the city’s military administration.
“A 35-year-old man died as a result of the nighttime attack. Two people were also wounded, including a 19-year-old girl,” he posted in an update.
Regional governor Oleg Kiper said the city was “massively attacked” and confirmed the fires, but did not immediately have information on the toll.
Farther north in the Kharkiv region, state emergency services said they had recovered the bodies of a woman and a 10-year-old boy after a drone attack.
“Three more people were wounded,” the services added in a post on Telegram.
Russia has continued bombarding its neighbor while engaging in US-backed talks to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
Though Washington wants to see the war end by mid-year, Kyiv and Moscow remain at odds over territorial divisions, with Russia pushing for full control of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region as part of any deal.
Russia occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine’s land.