Ukrainian drone strike sparks fires at Russian Black Sea port ahead of US-brokered peace talks

A Ukrainian drone strike ignited fires at one of Russia’s Black Sea ports, officials said Sunday, ahead of fresh talks aimed at ending the nearly 4-year-old war.

Two people were wounded in the attack on the port of Taman in the Krasnodar region, which damaged an oil storage tank, warehouse and terminals, according to regional Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev.

Meanwhile, falling debris from Russian drones damaged civilian and transport infrastructure in Ukraine’s Odesa region, officials said, causing disruption to the power and water supply.

Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian energy sites aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple the Ukrainian power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Kyiv officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”

The attacks came ahead of another round of U.S.-brokered talks between envoys from Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday and Wednesday in Geneva, just before the fourth anniversary of the all-out Russian invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested there were still questions remaining over future security guarantees for his country. Zelenskyy also questioned how the concept of a free trade zone — proposed by the U.S. — would work in the Donbas region, which Russia insists Kyiv must give up for peace.

He said the Americans want peace as quickly as possible and that the U.S. team wants to sign all the agreements on Ukraine at the same time, whereas Ukraine wants guarantees for the country’s future security signed first.

Zelenskyy’s concerns were echoed by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a ranking member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“Unless we have real security guarantees on whatever peace agreement is ultimately determined, we are going to be here again, because one of the things we know is that Russia has geared up not just for Ukraine, but to go beyond Ukraine,” she told reporters in Munich on Sunday.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Russia was hoping to win diplomatically what it had failed to achieve on the battlefield, and was banking on the U.S. to deliver concessions at the negotiating table. But Kallas told the Munich conference Sunday that key Russian demands — including the lifting of sanctions and unfreezing of assets — were decisions for Europe.

“If we want a sustainable peace then we need concessions also from the Russian side,” she said.

Previous U.S.-led efforts to find consensus on ending the war, most recently two rounds of talks in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, have failed to resolve difficult issues, such as the future of Ukraine’s Donbas industrial heartland that is largely occupied by Russian forces.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, Russian Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov speaks while inspecting the troops involved in the fighting in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, Russian Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov, second right, speaks while inspecting the troops involved in the fighting in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, left, hands Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a microphone during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the audience during a session at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

ATLANTA (AP) — Lots of candidates pitch themselves as political outsiders. Derek Dooley goes a step further. Not only is the former football coach running for the first time, he says he did not vote for nearly two decades.

He did not vote when Republican Donald Trump was first elected president in 2016. Nor did he vote in 2020, when Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

But Dooley does not worry about that as he seeks the Republican nomination to face off against Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia. He insists that Washington needs someone with a fresh outlook, someone who is not focused on “their own political career or their political ambitions.”

Besides, lots of people do not vote, and Dooley told The Associated Press that he wants to inspire more people to do so.

“If you’re not vigilant in exercising that right, things can go pretty sideways in our country,” he said.

Dooley’s opponents in the May 19 primary include two congressmen, Mike Collins and Buddy Carter. Although Dooley supports Trump, Collins and Carter are more closely identified with Trump’s “Make America Great Again” brand. With support from the more establishment Gov. Brian Kemp, Dooley will test whether his outsider narrative is compelling at a time when Trump’s antiestablishment movement already dominates the nation's capital.

The primary winner will be among the most important Republican candidates in this year’s midterm elections, with a chance to help the party preserve its thin Senate majority by ousting Ossoff.

Dooley is the son of legendary University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley. Derek Dooley worked as a lawyer before he started coaching. He led the University of Tennessee but was fired after a losing record. He then worked as an assistant coach for other colleges as well as professional teams.

He stepped away from the sidelines after the 2023 season, and Dooley said coaching people from a range of backgrounds will help him connect with Georgia’s diverse voting population.

“In my 30-plus years professional career, it’s never been about me in anything I was doing,” he said. “It’s about people.”

Dooley said he got interested in politics during Biden’s presidency, when he was upset about lax border enforcement, economic policies and support for transgender athletes. He has criticized Ossoff over the same issues. Dooley said he resumed voting in 2022, when he backed Kemp for governor, and he voted for Trump in 2024.

Republican strategist Brian Robinson said “you can tell this wasn’t a guy who spent his life in politics or around politics or consumed by politics.”

Kemp was close with Dooley’s family growing up, and he endorsed Dooley for Senate, putting establishment heft behind the political novice.

“I was looking for a political outsider, and it just happened to be a guy that I’ve known for, you know, 50-plus years,” Kemp said on stage with Dooley during an event with the Atlanta Young Republicans on Thursday.

Kemp and Dooley drew cheers from many in the crowd. Several people at the event said they had not decided on their primary choice but appreciated Dooley’s outsider perspective.

The relationship between Dooley and Kemp does not impress others.

“Completely siloing yourself with the old, establishment governor is not a way to say you’re an outsider,” said Courtlyn Cook, chair of the Glynn County Republicans in southeast Georgia. She said voters will remember that Kemp and Trump have not always gotten along, a key issue when the president enjoys deep support from the party's base.

Dooley’s ties with Kemp are a target for political opponents.

Devon Cruz, senior communications adviser for the Democratic Party of Georgia, described Dooley as someone with “access to the Governor’s political machine.” Harley Adsit, a spokesperson for Carter’s campaign, called Dooley the “ultimate insider.”

Canton voter Venessa Artigas, 53, likes Kemp and understands why some of her friends used to not vote, so she will likely support Dooley.

“I think we need to get career politicians out and get the voice of the people in,” said Artigas, who attended a local event for the conservative organization Turning Point Action.

University of West Georgia student Timothy Jackson, 19, is planning to vote for Collins because of his close ties to Trump, but is open to Carter.

“Both of them have been in Congress and so they know what it takes,” Jackson said. “Dooley is going to be hard because he’s never been in that position before.”

A Kemp-linked group funded an advertisement for Dooley last fall blaming Collins and Carter for the government shutdown, lumping them in with Ossoff.

Carter, a pharmacist, has been a political fixture along Georgia’s coast for nearly three decades. Collins is a trucking company co-owner and the son of a former congressman.

“Republicans are going to face an uphill battle, but Dooley doesn’t bring the baggage that other candidates could possibly bring and can speak not only to voters on the right and Republicans, but the voters in the center who will make the decision,” said longtime Republican consultant Jason Shepherd. “Jon Ossoff has a voting record that Dooley can run on and pick apart. Dooley does not.”

Dooley said he wants to boost workforce training and reduce home prices by cutting back government regulation. He also praised the Trump administration’s capture of Nicolás Maduro, who was ousted as Venezuela's president by the U.S. military in January, and blamed immigrants for reducing the number of available homes for U.S. citizens. Dooley promised to introduce legislation to prevent lawmakers from using taxpayer money to send campaign-related materials, which he accused Collins of doing improperly.

A spokesperson for Collins said his actions were approved by the House Communications Standards Commission, and he criticized Dooley as “a washed-up lawyer and failed coach.”

Robinson, the GOP strategist, said Dooley will need to explain to Georgians why being an outsider matters enough to earn their votes.

“It’s a well-worn path. The saliency of that message probably depends on the mood of the country and the cycle that we’re in,” Robinson said. “I don’t think we know just yet if that outsider message is what people are looking for.”

FILE - Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley, right, congratulates Tauren Poole (28) after he scored in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Middle Tennessee, Nov. 5, 2011, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne, File)

Derek Dooley, left, a Republican candidate for Senate in Georgia, listens as Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks during an Atlanta Young Republicans campaign event Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alyssa Pointer)

A political campaign sign for Derek Dooley, a Republican candidate for Senate in Georgia, is displayed during an Atlanta Young Republicans campaign event Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alyssa Pointer)

Derek Dooley, a Republican candidate for Senate in Georgia, listens to questions during an Atlanta Young Republicans campaign event Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alyssa Pointer)

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, right, listens as Derek Dooley, left, a Republican candidate for Senate in Georgia, speaks during an Atlanta Young Republicans campaign event Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alyssa Pointer)

Derek Dooley, a Republican candidate for Senate in Georgia, listens to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, not pictured, speak during an Atlanta Young Republicans campaign event Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alyssa Pointer)