The tactics of the Russian army’s war crimes have not changed over three years of Russia’s large-scale, horrific and unprovoked war against the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian state: brutal attacks by the Russian army are accompanied by the most inhumane terror against civilians, destruction of public infrastructure and ecocide. Port facilities, power grids, a children’s clinic and a kindergarten were among the targets of Russia’s war crimes in February 2025.
Since 24 February 2022, Russian forces have attacked Odesa Oblast more than 700 times. About 300 missiles and more than 400 strike drones were launched at the region. Russian attacks in Odesa Oblast have killed 187 people, including 12 children. This was reported by Odesa Regional Military Administration head Oleh Kiper.
01.02.2025
On the night of 1 February, the armed forces of the Russian Federation attacked Odesa Oblast with drones, preliminarily identified as Shahed-136s. At least five private houses, outbuildings and a gas pipeline were damaged in Odesa district. A 77-year-old woman and a 9-year-old girl suffered acute stress reactions.
05.02.2025
At about 18:15 on 5 February, the armed forces of the Russian Federation launched a missile strike on civilian infrastructure in the city of Pivdenne, Odesa Oblast. This was reported by Odesa Regional Military Administration head Oleh Kiper. According to him, the enemy hit an unfinished building.
“In Odesa district, a man was killed as a result of a Russian missile strike on an unfinished residential building, and another man is in serious condition in hospital. Both happened to be walking past the building,” the official wrote.
The Office of the Prosecutor General later reported that the man killed in the Russian strike was 39 years old and the injured man was 19.
In addition to the unfinished 11-storey building, residential buildings and the premises of a minimarket and café were damaged.
Russian forces struck with an air-launched missile.
12 – 13.02.2025
On the night of 13 February, the armed forces of the Russian Federation carried out a massive UAV attack on Odesa Oblast.
Enemy strikes damaged port infrastructure in the Danube region, residential buildings, an educational institution and vehicles. A 51-year-old local woman was injured and hospitalised.
The yard of a private household in Odesa district was damaged.
At about 18:10, the armed forces of the Russian Federation launched a missile strike on Odesa, preliminarily using an Iskander-M ballistic missile. The enemy hit a port infrastructure facility.
The State Environmental Inspectorate of the South-Western District reported that another strike on 13 February 2025 damaged port infrastructure in Odesa district. Buildings caught fire, causing significant pollutant emissions into the air. Nearly 8 tonnes of carbon dioxide alone were released into the atmosphere.
Fragments of Russian drones were found in Romania after the attack on port infrastructure in Odesa Oblast on the night of 13 February. The country’s Ministry of Defence reported this.
On 13 February, a group of specialists from the Ministry of National Defence, the Romanian Intelligence Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs found UAV wreckage at two locations.
The first drone crashed about one kilometre from the Danube near the border with Ukraine, and fragments were found about 5 km west of the city of Reni in Odesa Oblast. The second was found 500 metres from the Danube bank and about 5 km south of Reni.
The investigation established that both drones carried explosive charges that detonated when they crashed. This happened outside populated areas, and no infrastructure was damaged.
13 – 14.02.2025
On the night of 14 February, Russian forces again attacked Odesa Oblast with unmanned aerial vehicles. Port infrastructure facilities were again the targets.
The attack damaged port infrastructure, a non-operational recreation centre and a passenger car. Fires broke out at impact sites and were extinguished.
18.02.2025
During a meeting in Riyadh between delegations from the United States and the occupying state, Russian representatives once again lied that they allegedly do not strike energy infrastructure. At almost the same time, they carried out precisely such a strike on the power system of one of the most densely populated parts of Odesa — the Kyivskyi district. That day, the night-time temperature fell to minus 6 degrees Celsius.
On the night of 19 February, the armed forces of the Russian Federation attacked Odesa with drones. An energy facility was damaged. Four people were injured, including a 10-year-old girl who was taken to hospital.
The enemy attack damaged civilian infrastructure: residential buildings, a children’s clinic, a kindergarten, a business centre, retail facilities and vehicles. No staff or patients at the clinic were injured, but the scale of the damage was significant.
Because of the Russian attack, local emergency power outages were introduced in part of Odesa district. Critical infrastructure operated on generators. Heating was suspended for some consumers in Odesa’s Kyivskyi district.
More than 500 buildings housing 160,000 Odesa residents were without heating and electricity for more than 36 hours. Fourteen schools, 13 kindergartens and several hospitals were left without heat and power.
Warming centres and Points of Invincibility were to operate, where people could warm up, charge their devices and have hot tea.
Kindergarten No. 283 sustained significant damage. According to preliminary expert conclusions, the facility cannot be repaired and requires complete reconstruction. The children have now been transferred to nearby educational institutions.
Damaged kindergarten building. Photo from open sources
Municipal Children’s Clinic No. 6 on Kniazia Yaroslava Mudroho Avenue, whose building was damaged by the enemy attack. The building’s façade was damaged, more than 70 windows and doors were blown out, and the interior fittings were destroyed.
Children’s Clinic No. 6 before and after. Photo from open sources
On 20.02.23, power was restored to two key boiler houses in the Kyivskyi district that provide heating to about 200,000 Odesa residents. By the end of the day, heating had returned to residents’ homes.
19 – 20.02.2025
On the evening of 19 February, the armed forces of the Russian Federation attacked Odesa with Shahed-136 drones. Civilian and energy infrastructure facilities came under attack.
Warehouses of a private company, an administrative building, a catering establishment, a four-storey residential building and vehicles were damaged or destroyed.
A 55-year-old man was injured and hospitalised with wounds.
The enemy attack also left about 5,000 local residents without electricity.
The attack damaged a district heating main, leaving some consumers without heating.
The strike caused fires at a catering establishment and a warehouse. The State Emergency Service deployed 22 pieces of equipment and 82 firefighters.
21.02.2025
On the night of 21 February, Russia struck Odesa Oblast with two Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles launched from temporarily occupied Crimea.
This was reported by the Air Force, which noted that the region had been affected by the attack.
An air-raid alert was declared in the region at 04:27 on 20 February, and the Air Force warned of a threat of ballistic weapons from the south. A few minutes later, the Air Force urged Odesa and Zatoka residents to take shelter, saying there were two missiles. The all-clear was given at 04:51.
22.02.2025
On the evening of 22 February, the Russian army attacked Odesa Oblast with drones. A residential building was damaged. According to the Odesa Regional Military Administration, three people were injured.
The attack damaged a private residential building in Odesa district. Fires broke out at impact sites and were extinguished by rescuers.
23.02.2025
On the evening of 23 February, the Russian army again attacked Odesa Oblast with strike drones. Damage was reported. This was reported by Odesa Regional Military Administration head Oleh Kiper.
According to him, drone debris damaged port infrastructure, the glazing and roof of a private house, and passenger cars in the Odesa suburbs. There were no fatalities or injuries.
On the evening of 23 February, the air-raid alert sounded twice in Odesa Oblast: from 18:38 to 19:00 and from 21:32 to 22:28. During the first alert, an explosion was heard in the city and the Air Force warned of high-speed targets heading toward Odesa and Chornomorsk. During the second, it warned of a drone threat.
28.02.2025
A strike-drone attack on Odesa Oblast killed one person and injured another. Odesa Regional Military Administration head Oleh Kiper reported this on Telegram. “Odesa district was under attack,” the post said.
The attack and falling debris caused a one-storey private house, a business, and trucks and passenger cars to catch fire. A 41-year-old man was killed. Three more people were injured and taken to hospital.
We previously reported on crimes by the Russian Federation against Odesa Oblast in January 2025.