Drone Strike Damages turkish Tanker in Odesa,Disrupting Energy Import Route
ODESA,Ukraine – A drone strike damaged a Turkish tanker in the port city of Odesa on Monday,prompting Romanian authorities to evacuate nearby villages as a precaution. The incident occurred as Ukraine prepares for winter and seeks to bolster its energy supplies through increased imports.
The tanker’s cargo necessitated the evacuation of residents and animals from two villages close to Izmail on the Romanian side of the border, according to Romanian authorities. The vessel was reportedly en route to deliver U.S. liquefied natural gas to Odesa via pipelines from the northern Greek port of Alexandroupolis, with deliveries scheduled to begin in January. This new route is a key component of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s efforts to secure energy resources ahead of the colder months, following repeated attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian missile strikes overnight in Balakliya, Kharkiv region, killed three people and injured 11, including four girls aged 12, 14, 15, and 17. A daylight attack on Nikopol in the dnipropetrovsk region killed two and injured two more, hitting residential buildings, stores, and a hair salon.
According to the United Nations, Russian strikes have resulted in over 12,000 Ukrainian civilian deaths since the start of the war. Ukraine’s air force reported intercepting 36 of 128 strike and decoy drones launched by Russia overnight, while Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have downed 36 Ukrainian drones in retaliation, targeting Russia’s power grid. A Ukrainian drone attack also damaged an electricity substation in Russia’s Ulyanovsk region, though no casualties were reported and power supplies remained operational.