KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — At least two people were killed in a drone attack in Ukraine’s southwestern Odesa region, authorities said Sunday. Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine continued to target each other's infrastructure.
A Russian drone attack on a car park in the Odesa region, on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, in the early hours of Sunday killed two people, according to the State Emergency Service. Odesa regional head Oleh Kiper said that three others were wounded.
Tens of thousands of homes were left without power after Russia attacked the front-line Zaporizhzhia region overnight with drones and missiles.
Zaporizhzhia regional head Ivan Fedorov said nearly 60,000 people faced power outages and that two people were wounded in the attacks. He posted photos on Telegram of buildings reduced to rubble.
As a result of attacks on Ukraine’s power grid, several regions faced rolling power cuts on Sunday, Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo, said.
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Sunday that the partially occupied Donetsk region was without electricity, as well as parts of the Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv regions.
The strikes were the latest in Russia’s sustained campaign on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter temperatures approach.
Ukrainian cities use centralized public infrastructure to run water, sewage and heating systems, and blackouts stop them from working.
Attacks aim to erode Ukrainian morale as well as disrupt weapons manufacturing and other war-related activity almost four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
Analysts and officials say Moscow has shifted tactics this year, targeting specific regions and gas infrastructure.
The attacks have grown more effective as Russia launches hundreds of drones, some equipped with cameras that improve targeting, overwhelming air defenses — especially in regions where protection is weaker.
In Russia, a Ukrainian drone strike set an oil tanker and infrastructure ablaze at Tuapse port, regional officials said Sunday.
Images on social media appeared to show flames engulfing terminal structures and a tanker at the Black Sea port, with multiple blazes visible across the port area. The Associated Press was unable to independently confirm the footage.
A Ukrainian intelligence official told the AP that Ukrainian forces struck a tanker, loading infrastructure and port buildings.
The official said five drone strikes were recorded and the operation was carried out by special forces of Ukraine’s Security Service and other defense forces. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose operational details.
Local Russian authorities said “two foreign civilian ships” were damaged.
Tuapse is home to a major oil export terminal and a refinery belonging to state-owned Russian oil company Rosneft.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said long-range strikes on refineries inside Russia have reduced Moscow’s oil refining capacity by 20%, citing intelligence from Western governments.
Oil exports play a key role in funding Russia’s invasion of its neighbor Ukraine. While Ukrainian weapons take aim at the refineries, new sanctions from the U.S. and the European Union are aiming to cut into Moscow’s oil and gas export earnings.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this image made from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, a Russian "Grad" self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher fires towards Ukrainian positions on an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Galileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
