Russia Bombs Ukraine Port of Odesa Amid Peace Talks

Much of Ukraine’s largest Black Sea port was without power, heat and water on Saturday after strikes from Russia, which has shown little appetite for a deal to end the war.

Russian drones and missiles pummeled Odesa, Ukraine, overnight on Friday into Saturday in one of the biggest attacks of the war on the southern port, causing major power outages that plunged parts of the city into darkness.

The attack targeted energy, industrial and other infrastructure in several regions of southern Ukraine, leaving much of Odesa, the country’s largest Black Sea port, without power, heat and water, Ukrainian officials said. Hospitals and public drinking water stations were switched onto generators. Officials did not report any deaths.

The overnight attacks caused more than one million people in Ukraine to lose power, officials said.

The bombardment came amid a flurry of diplomatic talks to end the war, which started nearly four years ago with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, or to at least secure a limited cease-fire. Ukrainian, European and American officials have shuttled across the globe in recent weeks for negotiations over a U.S. push to quickly end the conflict.

President Trump, arguing that Ukraine is losing, wants President Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to a deal that would require the country to cede land for peace. Mr. Zelensky and his European allies are resisting while also trying to ensure that the United States does not walk away from Ukraine.

Negotiators from Europe, the United States and Ukraine will meet over the weekend in Berlin, a senior German government official said on Saturday, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Mr. Zelensky and European leaders are expected to hold talks on Monday.

Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, will also be meeting with officials on Sunday and Monday, according to a White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity to share plans that were not yet public.

“It is important that everyone now sees what Russia is doing — every step they take in terror against our people, all their attacks, for this is clearly not about ending the war,” Mr. Zelensky said on social media after the strikes on Saturday. “For all our diplomatic efforts to yield results, pressure must be applied to the aggressor so that they end the war they started,” he added.

But President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has shown little appetite for any peace deal at this stage.

On Friday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey told Mr. Putin in a meeting on the sidelines of a summit in Turkmenistan that a limited cease-fire for energy facilities and ports “could be beneficial” and a step toward a broader peace deal in the war, according to a statement from Mr. Erdogan’s office.

Mr. Erdogan has called Mr. Putin his “dear friend” in the past, and Turkey has tried to broker a truce between Russia and Ukraine on attacks in shipping lanes in the Black Sea, which endanger Turkey’s own interests.

But Moscow has resisted those calls. After Ukraine hit two vessels of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet in late November in the Black Sea, Mr. Putin threatened to cut off Ukraine from the sea. Russia is thought to use these tankers to transport oil covertly, avoiding sanctions and raising money to fund its war. Ukraine hit another vessel in the fleet on Wednesday.

Hours after the conversation between Mr. Putin and Mr. Erdogan on Friday, Russian strikes hit two Ukrainian ports in the Odesa region on the Black Sea. Those attacks damaged three Turkish-owned vessels, Ukrainian officials said. The owner of one of the ships said on Friday that it had been carrying food supplies.

Oleksii Kuleba, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for restoration, said the attacks on civilian ports needed a clear international response, “with increased protection of shipping and pressure” on Russia.

Russia also repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure this fall, affecting power nationwide. Half of the capital, Kyiv, did not have power on Tuesday. On Friday night, Russia sent 465 drones and 30 missiles into Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

The overnight attacks also caused power outages in the nearby regions of Mykolaiv and Kherson, as well as in parts of northern and eastern Ukraine. “Emergency restoration work will begin as soon as the security situation allows,” the country’s energy ministry said.

Reporting was contributed by Maria Varenikova, Stanislav Kozliuk and Oleksandra Mykolyshyn from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Christopher F. Schuetze from Berlin.

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