Ukraine’s port of Odessa offline after Russian drone strike: Minister

Ukraine’s agriculture minister says the Black Sea port of Odessa is not operating following the latest Russian drone attack on the region’s energy system and that grain traders will continue to ship the crops via two other ports authorized to export grains under a deal between the two countries.

Mykola Solsky told Reuters in a phone call on Saturday that the ports of Pivdennyi and Chornomorsk are partially operating, saying the latter is now operating at about 80% of capacity.

Solsky went on to say Odessa is not operating at the moment since the power generators had not been switched on yet. “There are problems, but none of the traders are talking about any suspension of shipments. Ports use alternative energy sources.”

On Saturday, Russia hit two energy facilities in Odessa, leaving all non-critical infrastructures without power.

Putin: Attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure a response to Kiev’s strikes on Russia’s power lines

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that the attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure were a response to Kiev’s strikes on Russia’s power lines.

Odessa’s mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov wrote in a post on Facebook, “Due to the scale of the damage, all users in Odessa except critical infrastructure have been disconnected from electricity.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky also said in a video address late on Saturday that more than 1.5 million people in the southern region were without power after Russian drone strikes hit the energy facilities.

Regional authorities said electricity for the city’s population will be restored “in the coming days,” while complete restoration of the networks may take two to three months.

Since October, Russia has been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with large waves of missile and drone strikes. President Vladimir Putin says the attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure were a response to Kiev’s strikes on Russia’s power lines.

Russia ramping up production of new-generation weapons

Separately on Sunday, Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev said on the messaging app Telegram the country was increasing production of “most powerful” new-generation weapons to protect itself from enemies in Europe, the United States, and Australia. “We are increasing production of the most powerful means of destruction. Including those based on new principles.”

Medvedev, who serves as deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, did not provide details of the weapons.

The comments came after Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany Oleksii Makeiev said he had received promises from Germany for further weapons deliveries to his country. “In direct talks, we were assured of more weapons and more ammunition. Which ones, we will jointly announce in due course,” Makeiev told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

US to send $275 million worth of weapons to Ukraine as EU increases arms for Kiev

The US is to send more weapons worth $275 million to Ukraine as the EU increases its arms fund for Kiev.

He said he did not want to put diplomatic pressure on the German government, but called on Berlin to quickly deliver what it has, “because we don’t have time to wait longer.”

Russia launched the “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24. Since the onset of the war, the United States and its European allies have unleashed a wide array of unprecedented sanctions against Russia and poured numerous batches of advanced weapons in Ukraine to assist its military fend off the Russian troops, despite repeated warnings by the Kremlin that such measures will only prolong the war.

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