Fatalities Reported in Odesa and Bryansk
February 14, 2026 – Drone strikes on Saturday claimed the lives of at least two civilians, one in Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa and another in Russia's western Bryansk region. These deadly incidents occurred as both nations prepare for a new round of U.S.-brokered peace talks aimed at de-escalating the ongoing conflict.
In Odesa, an elderly woman was killed when a Russian drone struck a residential building. Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported that the drone hit a private home in the Black Sea port city, damaging its roof and igniting a fire that emergency crews later extinguished. The victim, born in 1950, was discovered under the rubble of the destroyed house. Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, confirmed the fatality. The blast wave from the strike also shattered windows in neighboring buildings.
Concurrently, in Russia's border region of Bryansk, a civilian was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike. Regional Governor Alexander Bogomaz stated that the drone targeted a car, resulting in the civilian's death.
Escalation Ahead of Peace Talks
The latest civilian casualties underscore the persistent hostilities between Ukraine and Russia, coming just days before scheduled peace negotiations. A new round of U.S.-brokered talks between envoys from Russia and Ukraine is set to take place next week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, in Geneva. Both Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's communications adviser, Dmytro Lytvyn, have confirmed these upcoming discussions.
These drone attacks follow a Ukrainian missile strike on the Russian border city of Belgorod a day prior, which reportedly killed two people and wounded five. Additionally, Russia-installed authorities reported that a Ukrainian airstrike on Saturday wounded 15 people in Ukraine's partially occupied Luhansk region.
Broader Context of the Conflict
The upcoming Geneva talks are set against a backdrop of continuous fighting along the approximately 1,250-kilometer (750-mile) front line. The conflict has seen relentless Russian bombardment of civilian areas and Ukraine's power grid, alongside Kyiv's almost daily long-range drone attacks targeting assets on Russian soil. Previous U.S.-led efforts to find a resolution, including two rounds of talks in Abu Dhabi, have not yet resolved key issues of the conflict.
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