Russia Launches Missile Attacks Again on Several Regions of Ukraine, Hits Odesa Port to Electrical Installations

JAKARATA - Russia launched another missile attack on several parts of Ukraine early Thursday, including the Black Sea port of Odesa and the city of Kharkiv, cutting power to several areas, regional officials said.

The governor of the Odesa region, Maksym Marchenko, said on Telegram that a mass missile attack had hit energy facilities in the port city, cutting off electricity. Residential areas were also hit, but no casualties were reported, reported Reuters March 9.

Meanwhile Governor of Kharkiv region, Oleh Synehubov, said the city and region had been hit by 15 attacks, targeting including infrastructure. Other attacks were reported in the center of Dnipro City and areas across the country.

On Wednesday night, the Ukrainian military said it had repelled an intense Russian assault on the town of Bakhmut despite Russia's claim to control its eastern part.

In one of the bloodiest battles of the year-long war in the ruins of the small town, Ukrainian defenders, who last week appeared to be preparing for a tactical retreat, are putting up a fight.

"The enemy is continuing its attacks and is showing no signs of stopping its assault on Bakhmut City," the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said on Facebook.

"Our troops repelled the attacks on Bakhmut and the surrounding communities," he continued.

Ukraine's political and military leaders are now choosing to hold their ground, inflicting as many casualties on Russia as possible to reduce their combat capabilities.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address late Wednesday the battle for Bakhmut and the surrounding Donbas region was "our first priority".

In a separate interview with CNN, he said: "We think towards the Donbass the Russians have started their attack. It is offensive. This is how it looks like: slow aggression, because they don't have enough strength and power."