Zelensky: Russia struck two foreign-flagged ships off Odesa

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Tuesday that Russian forces struck two ships sailing under foreign flags off Odesa in the Black Sea, as overnight attacks damaged energy facilities, electrical substations, civilian businesses and residential buildings.

According to Reuters, the Ukrainian president said the capital Kyiv and 11 other regions were attacked overnight — part of Russia’s ongoing air campaign against Ukrainian cities, now in its fourth and a half year.

The strike on the two civilian vessels comes as Russia has increasingly focused its attacks on Ukraine’s port infrastructure and sea routes. Just on Monday, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its forces had struck fuel and telecommunications facilities in Kyiv, as well as cargo ships it claims were supplying the Ukrainian army, Reuters reports — claims Kyiv denies and which the agency says it could not independently verify.

Attacks on ports and merchant ships in the Black Sea have intensified in recent months, endangering Ukrainian grain exports and driving up insurance prices for shipping in the area. Ukraine has described these attacks as having no military justification, while Moscow insists it strikes only military targets. Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians.

The latest attack follows a bloody Monday night, when Russian drones hit the National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv and the city of Dnipro. In the past 24 hours alone, more than 80 people were wounded in Russian attacks across the country, Zelensky announced.