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Russia Drones Smash Power Network in Ukraine’s Odesa, Leaving 1.5 Million without Power

A local resident stands at a transport stop near a stopped trolleybus during a power outage after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Odesa, Ukraine December 5, 2022. (Reuters)
A local resident stands at a transport stop near a stopped trolleybus during a power outage after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Odesa, Ukraine December 5, 2022. (Reuters)
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Russia Drones Smash Power Network in Ukraine’s Odesa, Leaving 1.5 Million without Power

A local resident stands at a transport stop near a stopped trolleybus during a power outage after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Odesa, Ukraine December 5, 2022. (Reuters)
A local resident stands at a transport stop near a stopped trolleybus during a power outage after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Odesa, Ukraine December 5, 2022. (Reuters)

All non-critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian port of Odesa was without power after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two energy facilities, leaving 1.5 million people without power, officials said on Saturday. 

"The situation in the Odesa region is very difficult," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. 

"Unfortunately, the hits were critical, so it takes more than just time to restore electricity... It doesn't take hours, but a few days, unfortunately." 

Since October, Moscow has been targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure with large waves of missile and drone strikes. 

Norway was sending $100 million to help restore Ukraine's energy system, Zelenskiy said. 

Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for Odesa's regional administration, 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. 

Bratchuk said an earlier Facebook post by the region's administration, advising some people to consider evacuating, was being investigated by Ukraine's security services as "an element of the hybrid war" by Russia. 

That post has since been deleted. 

"Not a single representative of the authorities in the region made any calls for the evacuation of the inhabitants of Odesa and the region," Bratchuk said. 

Odesa had more than 1 million residents before the Feb. 24 invasion that Russia calls a "special military operation" to "denazify" its smaller neighbor. 

Kyiv says Russia has launched hundreds of Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones at targets in Ukraine, describing the attacks as war crimes due to their devastating effect on civilian life. Moscow says its attacks are militarily legitimate and that it does not target civilians. 

Ukraine's prosecutor general's office said two power facilities in Odesa region were hit by Shahed-136 drones. 

Ukraine's armed forces said on Facebook that 15 drones had been launched against targets in the southern regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv, and 10 had been shot down. 

Tehran denies supplying the drones to Moscow. Kyiv and its Western allies say that is a lie. 

Britain's defense ministry said on Saturday that it believed Iran's military support for Russia was likely to increase in the coming months, including possible deliveries of ballistic missiles. 

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World

Pezeshkian Puts Conditions to End the War as Trump Insists Iran is ‘at the End of the Line’

This satellite image taken and released on March 11, 2026 courtesy of Vantor shows a view of damaged buildings after airstrikes at Hakimabad garrison, some 30 kms (20 miles) south of Tehran, Iran. MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Satellite image 2026 Vantor
This satellite image taken and released on March 11, 2026 courtesy of Vantor shows a view of damaged buildings after airstrikes at Hakimabad garrison, some 30 kms (20 miles) south of Tehran, Iran. MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Satellite image 2026 Vantor
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Pezeshkian Puts Conditions to End the War as Trump Insists Iran is ‘at the End of the Line’

This satellite image taken and released on March 11, 2026 courtesy of Vantor shows a view of damaged buildings after airstrikes at Hakimabad garrison, some 30 kms (20 miles) south of Tehran, Iran. MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Satellite image 2026 Vantor
This satellite image taken and released on March 11, 2026 courtesy of Vantor shows a view of damaged buildings after airstrikes at Hakimabad garrison, some 30 kms (20 miles) south of Tehran, Iran. MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Satellite image 2026 Vantor

American and Israeli strikes on Thursday pounded Iran with no sign of an end to the war in sight as unrelenting Iranian attacks on shipping traffic and energy infrastructure pushed oil above $100 a barrel.

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei hasn't yet made a statement or been seen since being chosen to succeed his father Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening day of the conflict.

But Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has suggested that Tehran sought the world to recognize Iran’s “legitimate rights, payment of reparations” and international guarantees against future attacks to see an end of the war.

His comment came as US President Donald Trump reiterated his insistence that US-Israeli strikes had already practically defeated Iran.

"They are pretty much at the end of the line," he told reporters, after delivering a speech to supporters in which he declared: "We've won... we won -- in the first hour it was over."

Trump suggested that Iran’s halting of attacks was not imminent, however, promising to “finish the job” even though he claimed Iran is “virtually destroyed.”

“We don’t want to leave early do we? We’ve got to finish the job," he said at an event Wednesday in Kentucky.

In addition to attacking energy infrastructure around the region, Iran has a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway leading from the Arabian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported.

With traffic in the strait effectively stopped, the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose another 9% to more than $100 a barrel, up some 38% over what it cost when the war started.

World

CENTCOM Warns Civilians to Avoid Iranian Ports Used for Military Purposes

A photo shows an Iranian vessel before a strike near the Strait of Hormuz (Photo by US Central Command/AFP) 
A photo shows an Iranian vessel before a strike near the Strait of Hormuz (Photo by US Central Command/AFP) 
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CENTCOM Warns Civilians to Avoid Iranian Ports Used for Military Purposes

A photo shows an Iranian vessel before a strike near the Strait of Hormuz (Photo by US Central Command/AFP) 
A photo shows an Iranian vessel before a strike near the Strait of Hormuz (Photo by US Central Command/AFP) 

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Wednesday warned civilians to avoid using ports along the Strait of Hormuz where Iranian forces conduct military operations that threaten international shipping.

“This dangerous action risks the lives of innocent people,” it said in a statement issued from its headquarters in Tampa, Florida. “Civilian ports used for military purposes lose protected status and become legitimate military targets under international law.”

CENTCOM also urged civilians in Iran to immediately avoid all port facilities where Iranian naval forces are operating. Iranian dockworkers, administrative personnel, and commercial vessel crews should avoid Iranian naval vessels and military equipment.

It said Iranian naval forces have positioned military vessels and equipment within civilian ports serving commercial maritime traffic.

Although the US military also cannot guarantee civilian safety in or near facilities used by the Iranian regime for military purposes, CENTCOM said US forces will continue taking every feasible precaution to minimize harm to civilians.

On Wednesday, spokesperson of Iran’s armed forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, warned that his forces would target ports across the region if Iranian maritime infrastructure is attacked, urging neighboring states to expel US forces.

Quoted by state TV, Shekarchi said, “If our ports and docks are threatened, all ports and docks in the region will be our legitimate targets.”

He officially denied accusations that naval vessels from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were hiding in commercial or economic ports.

 

 

World

Switzerland Closes Tehran Embassy but Maintains 'Open Line' between US, Iran

07 March 2026, Iran, Tehran: Members of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) rescue teams work at the site of a building damaged in an airstrike in Iran, following the strikes launched by the United States and Israel on February 28, which killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior military officials, prompting Iran to retaliate with strikes on Israel and Gulf states. Photo: IRCS via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
07 March 2026, Iran, Tehran: Members of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) rescue teams work at the site of a building damaged in an airstrike in Iran, following the strikes launched by the United States and Israel on February 28, which killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior military officials, prompting Iran to retaliate with strikes on Israel and Gulf states. Photo: IRCS via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Switzerland Closes Tehran Embassy but Maintains 'Open Line' between US, Iran

07 March 2026, Iran, Tehran: Members of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) rescue teams work at the site of a building damaged in an airstrike in Iran, following the strikes launched by the United States and Israel on February 28, which killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior military officials, prompting Iran to retaliate with strikes on Israel and Gulf states. Photo: IRCS via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
07 March 2026, Iran, Tehran: Members of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) rescue teams work at the site of a building damaged in an airstrike in Iran, following the strikes launched by the United States and Israel on February 28, which killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior military officials, prompting Iran to retaliate with strikes on Israel and Gulf states. Photo: IRCS via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Switzerland said Wednesday it was temporarily closing its embassy in Tehran due to the Middle East war but maintaining an "open line" of communication between the United States and Iran.

For decades, neutral Switzerland has played a key role in maintaining basic diplomatic contacts between Iran and the United States, AFP said.

The foreign ministry in Bern said that in view of the war in the Middle East and the increasing security risk, it had "decided to temporarily close the Swiss embassy in Tehran".

Ambassador Olivier Bangerter and the remaining five other Swiss staff members left Iran by land earlier on Wednesday and will return to Tehran once the situation allows.

"As part of its good offices, Switzerland will continue to maintain an open line of communication between the United States and Iran, in consultation with the two countries," said the ministry statement.

Both the United States and Iran were informed of the temporary closure of the embassy and the departure of its Swiss staff.

"Switzerland will continue to be available to channel communications that the parties consider useful," the statement added.

"The protecting power mandate, under which Switzerland represents US interests in Iran, can be exercised independently of geographical location."

- The protecting power -

Renowned for its neutrality, Switzerland has been representing US interests in Iran since Washington broke off relations with Tehran after the 1980 hostage crisis, a year after the Iranian revolution.

In its role as the so-called protecting power, Switzerland has for decades allowed the two feuding nations to maintain a minimum of diplomatic and consular relations.

The Swiss embassy in Tehran handles all consular affairs between the United States and Iran, including passport requests, altering civil status and consular protection for US citizens in Iran.

Under the protecting power mandate, "Switzerland can either offer to act as a go-between on its own initiative or can fulfil this function at the request of the parties concerned, provided that all those involved agree," the foreign ministry says on its website.

The United States and Iran held a third round of indirect talks through Omani negotiators, on Iran's nuclear program, in the Swiss city of Geneva on February 26.

Two days later, the United States and Israel launched the first wave of attacks in a war that has seen Iran strike targets in multiple countries around the Gulf.

Switzerland has called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy.