KYIV, Ukraine >> Russian drones pummeled the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odesa, injuring three people and sparking massive fires, officials said Friday, an attack that underlined Moscow’s intention to pursue aerial strikes even as it agreed to temporarily halt strikes on energy facilities. 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 defense 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 U.S., Europe and all our partners,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram.

“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 Petr Pavel visited Odesa on Friday morning, meeting 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 said there were 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 accuses Ukraine of blowing up natural gas facility in the Kursk region

Russia’s Defense 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 U.S. president’s peaceful initiatives.”

Ukraine’s military General Staff rejected Moscow’s accusations and blamed the Russian military for shelling the Sudzha gas metering station as part of Russia’s “discrediting campaign.”

The gas metering station serves a major pipeline that had pumped Russia’s natural gas to Europe until supplies were halted last year.

Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle Wednesday to a limited ceasefire after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with the countries’ leaders this week, though it remained to be seen what possible targets would be off limits to attack.