Russian attack on Ukraine's Odesa region killed two people, injured three


A firefighter works at a compound of a private enterprise which was damaged during overnight Russian drone strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine February 23, 2026. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via REUTERS

KYIV, Feb 23 (Reuters) - A ⁠Russian attack on Ukraine's southern Odesa region killed ⁠two people and injured three overnight, Ukraine's emergency ‌service and a government official said on Monday.

The two people died when a Russian drone fell on a truck stop causing a fire, the ​service said on the Telegram messenger.

Infrastructure ⁠Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said ⁠on Telegram that Russia had attacked port infrastructure in the ⁠Odesa ‌region.

"This is yet another blow to civilian logistics and port infrastructure. Russia is systematically attacking facilities ⁠that have no military purpose, trying to undermine ​the economy ‌of the region and the country as a whole," ⁠Kuleba said.

He ​said the freight transport storage area was damaged.

The Odesa region - home to a large shipping hub with terminals in the Black ⁠Sea ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, and ​Pivdennyi - has been targeted since the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Russia sharply increased the intensity of its ⁠attacks on the Black Sea ports in late 2025 when President Vladimir Putin threatened to "cut Ukraine off from the sea".

A source in the transport industry, who asked for anonymity ​due to the sensitivity of the ⁠issue, told Reuters last week that strikes on the Odesa ​ports in the last few months ‌had reduced their export capacity ​by up to 30% from their pre-war level.

(Reporting by Pavel PolityukEditing by Sonali Paul and Gareth Jones)

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