Ukraine and Russia have launched mutual air strikes on the shores of the Black Sea early today, hours after brief direct talks between them in which no progress was made in ending nearly 3.5 years of war.

Russian forces launched a series of massive drone attacks on the port of Odessa on the Black Sea, injuring at least four people and causing several fires as well as damage to its historic centre, a UNESCO heritage site.

The well-known Privoz market in Odessa is among the sites hit, regional governor Oleh Kipper said. “It’s not just a market, it’s the heart of Odessa,” he added.

This morning, some residents were cleaning broken glass in the streets.

“So what if they (drones) are flying? We’re going to shoot them down. They won’t bend us,” Yevgen, a 20-year-old student, who was among those helping with the cleanup, told Reuters.

First aid officials in Russia’s Krasnodar region in the Black Sea said shrapnel from a downed drone claimed the life of a woman in the Adler region near the resort city of Sochi. Another woman was taken to hospital after being seriously injured, officials said via Telegram.

The head of the administration in the Shirius region, south of Sochi, said a drone struck an oil base, without giving further details. Russia’s civil aviation service said airport operations at Sochi were suspended for about four hours.

Russia also attacked overnight in the Cherkassy region in central Ukraine, wounding seven people, including a 9-year-old child, and damaging more than ten apartment buildings.

Negotiators had earlier discussed new prisoner exchanges during brief peace talks in Istanbul but the two sides remained at a distance over ceasefire terms and a possible meeting of their leaders.

“Yesterday, at a meeting in Istanbul, the Russian side was once again presented with a proposal for an immediate and complete ceasefire. In response, Russian drones are hitting apartment buildings,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a Telegram post.

He said Russia fired 103 drones and four missiles during a nighttime attack, which Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said hit civilian infrastructure, including ports, transport hubs and residential areas.

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