KYIV, March 7 - European Union leaders sharply criticized a deadly Russian attack on Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa on Wednesday. The attack, which reportedly killed five people, came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the same city.

“No one is intimidated by this new attempt at terror - certainly not the two leaders on the ground nor the brave people of Ukraine,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday via social media site X, CNBC reported.

Russia said it targeted a hangar in Odesa where it said Ukrainian forces were preparing naval drones for operations.

A top Ukrainian military commander says the country’s forces are seeking to stabilize the front line and carry out unspecified counteroffensive actions over the coming months.

Ukrainian ground forces commander Oleksandr Pavlyuk said in televised comments on Wednesday that Russian forces were concentrating efforts in eastern Ukraine, near the industrial hub of Avdiivka. Russia said on Feb. 18 that it had seized the Ukrainian town, reflecting its biggest gain in nine months.

Elsewhere, Lithuanian intelligence agencies warned on Thursday that Russia has sufficient resources to keep fighting “at a similar intensity,” at least in the near term. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine entered its third year in late February.

Britain said Thursday that it would provide 10,000 drones to arm Ukraine in its fight against Russia, The Associated Press reported.

The announcement by Defense Secretary Grant Shapps during a visit in Kyiv with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy includes an investment of 125 million pounds ($160 million) on top of 200 million pounds ($256 million) previously committed for drones.

The weaponry will include 1,000 one-way attack — or kamikaze — drones and models that target ships.

“Ukraine’s Armed Forces are using U.K. donated weapons to unprecedented effect, to help lay waste to nearly 30% of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet,” Shapps said.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian sea drones reportedly sank another Russian warship in the Black Sea, the latest in a series of strikes that has crippled Moscow’s naval capability. (cnbc-ap)