Russia attacks port near Odesa, kills brothers near front line, Ukrainian officials say


Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine in this handout picture released February 13, 2026. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via REUTERS

Feb 13 (Reuters) - Three Ukrainian brothers, ⁠including an eight-year-old, were killed near the eastern front line and ⁠a Russian drone attack killed one person and injured six others at ‌one of Ukraine's Black Sea ports near Odesa, Ukrainian officials said on Friday.

The mother and grandmother of the brothers - two of whom were 19 - were injured in the attack late on Thursday, ​the local prosecutors in the Donetsk region said ⁠on Friday.

The ports are Ukraine's key ⁠maritime export arteries, crucial for its foreign trade and the survival of its ⁠wartime ‌economy. Moscow has stepped up its attacks on both them and Ukraine's energy infrastructure, and Kyiv has targeted Russian oil facilities, as U.S.-led ⁠efforts to end the war stall.

"Russia launched massive strikes ​on port and railway ‌infrastructure," Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba wrote on Telegram.

Infrastructure belonging to a ⁠business as well ​as fertiliser warehouses and vehicles, including freight wagons, were damaged, Kuleba said, adding that the attack sparked a fire.

The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority did not name the port, saying ⁠only that it was one of the three ​around Odesa and continued to operate despite damage to infrastructure.

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 154 drones in total and one ballistic missile at Ukraine overnight. Air ⁠defences downed or neutralised 111 of the drones, it said.

Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said that energy, industrial, and residential infrastructure in the region was also targeted after reporting earlier that the attack caused "substantial" disruption to power, heat and water ​supplies.

Ukraine's major private energy company DTEK said the damage ⁠to energy infrastructure in the city was "extremely serious" and the repairs will take a ​long time. It did not say which facility ‌was hit.

Railway infrastructure in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk ​region also came under attack in the past 24 hours, Kuleba said.

(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Jamie Freed, Stephen Coates, Philippa Fletcher)

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