By Tannistha Dey
Russian attacks on Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa have increased, plunging neighbourhoods into darkness and damaging key port infrastructure, raising fears that Moscow may try to cut off Ukraine’s access to the sea.
Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister, said the strikes on Odesa were no longer isolated incidents but part of a systematic campaign, indicating that the focus of the conflict appeared to be shifting towards the Black Sea coast. President Volodymyr Zelensky echoed the concern, saying the attacks were aimed at disrupting Ukraine’s maritime logistics.
For its citizens, this conflict has meant disruption and terror. Airstrikes on Sunday night left thousands without electricity. It resulted in a fire at the main port, where containers full of flour and vegetable oil ready for export were reduced to ashes.
Last week, eight people died, while at least 30 others were injured as a ballistic missile attack hit the Pivdenniy port, which is located east of Odessa. Fresh strikes occurred on Monday evening at port infrastructure in Odesa, damaging a civilian vessel, according to the regional governor. The attacks are part of a campaign that has continually disrupted power supplies for the area.
Odesa is the third-largest Ukrainian port, after Kyiv and Kharkiv, and now the only Ukrainian port that remains accessible, since the ports at Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Mykolaiv are no longer usable due to Russian occupation. Despite the ongoing conflict, Ukraine retains the position of one of the world’s leading wheat and corn exporters.
Since August 2023, the port city of Odesa has been the beginning of an extremely important route for the exportation of grain, through which ships can sail through the coasts of both Romania and Bulgaria to Turkey. The threat of the important route may come through attacks, according to Ukraine officials.
President Zelensky added that these strikes had made it clear that Russia had no plans to stop its aggression unless it faced increased pressure from the international community, saying that Moscow was simply “sowing chaos” among the population of the port city. This comes against the backdrop of US-led diplomatic efforts that concluded in Miami where Washington had bilateral talks with both Ukrainian and Russian envoys.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy on Ukraine, Steve Witkoff, said that there was harmonization of stands on a 20-spot peace plan on Ukraine. The Kremlin downplayed the session in which high-ranking Soviet officials indicated that European states were attempting to scuttle possible deals. Although it was clear that the peace process was derailed, the fighting continued. Kyiv was, again, bombarded by Russia in an air strike that included air defense on Tuesday.