Russian attack on Odesa claimed three lives including a child, injured 16

At least three people, including a child, were killed and 16 others injured in a Russian overnight attack on Odesa on April 6, according to local authorities. Among the wounded were a toddler and two teenagers, with at least two victims hospitalized in critical condition — one in neurosurgery and another in intensive care for severe burns.

The strikes caused widespread damage across the city. In one of the most densely populated districts, a residential building and seven houses were hit, while in the Kyivskyi district, 13 high-rise buildings and 39 homes were damaged. The attack also targeted energy infrastructure, leaving around 16,700 households without electricity, according to DTEK.

The assault is part of a broader pattern of Russian strikes on civilian areas and critical infrastructure. Just days earlier, on April 3, an airstrike on Kramatorsk killed four civilians, including a 16-year-old boy, and injured four others. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry also reported that Russia dropped a record 7,987 guided aerial bombs in March — the highest monthly total since the start of the full-scale invasion — underscoring the intensifying scale of attacks.

Russia reportedly keeps in touch with the US despite a pause in talks

The Kremlin has said that although trilateral negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine are currently on hold, communication between Russia and the United States is ongoing. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, speaking to Interfax, said it is currently difficult to convene talks involving all three sides.

According to Peskov, Washington is focused on other pressing issues, making it challenging to organize a meeting in a trilateral format. He added that Ukraine continues its separate dialogue with the United States, while Moscow maintains its own communication channels with Washington to exchange information.

Peskov also said the Kremlin has no confirmed information about a potential visit to Kyiv by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff or businessman Jared Kushner, which had been rumored to take place after Orthodox Easter on April 12.

Russian forces are struggling to advance on the northern part of Ukraine’s Fortress Belt 

Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets reported that elements of Russia’s 3rd Combined Arms Army have stalled near the settlements of Kryva Luka and Zakitne, located east of Slovyansk at the northern edge of Ukraine’s so-called Fortress Belt. While Russian forces made tactically significant gains in the area since late February, they have failed to advance over the past week after breaching Ukrainian defenses between Kryva Luka and Riznykivka.

Mashovets noted that other Russian formations — including the 20th and 25th Combined Arms Armies operating toward Lyman, as well as the 8th Combined Arms Army and 3rd Army Corps advancing toward Kostyantynivka — are progressing even more slowly. As a result, he assessed that the 3rd Combined Arms Army may be the only formation currently capable of attempting a direct push toward the Slovyansk–Kramatorsk urban area.

However, launching such an offensive without coordinated advances on the flanks would likely further slow Russian progress and lead to heavy casualties for limited territorial gains. Mashovets suggested that instead, these forces could be redirected to reinforce operations in the Lyman or Kostyantynivka directions. Doing so would require Russia to pause its offensive against the northern section of the Fortress Belt, potentially undermining the Kremlin narrative that its troops are advancing simultaneously across multiple fronts and that Ukrainian defenses are collapsing.