The head of the Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, said the city suffered "local emergency power outages" in three of its districts, an indication that the energy infrastructure of the city could have been damaged

Reacting to the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that "joint pressure on Russia, strengthening sanctions and defence support for our state ... is the way to stop such terror and Russia's prolongation of the war"

"We expect real pressure on Russia from the US, Europe and all our partners," Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram. "And this is what will allow diplomacy to work"

Russia, meanwhile, accused Ukraine of blowing up a gas facility in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have launched an incursion, in violation of the ceasefire deal. Ukraine denies the accusations

The strike came shortly before Czech Republic President Peter Pavel visited Odesa early Friday morning and held meetings with the city's leaders and officials from other southern regions

"This is another reminder to the whole world: the war continues and Ukraine continues to fight," Kiper said in a statement

He reported blazes at at least three locations after the attack late Thursday. "Civilian infrastructure, commercial facilities are on fire, cars damaged," Kiper said

Over 70 people and 20 fire engines were involved in extinguishing what the emergency services called "massive fires"

Russia's Defence Ministry accused Ukrainian forces of blowing up a gas metering station near the town of Sudzha in Russia's Kursk region, in what it described as a "deliberate provocation by the Kyiv regime, which is part of a series of recent strikes on Russia's energy infrastructure in order to discredit the US president's peaceful initiatives"