Digital Bandung: Why Global South Must Seize its Data Future

Kambale Musavuli | 27 Dec 2025

The Global South can shape a different future through coordination, shared standards, and strategic investment. A “Digital Bandung” provides a pathway toward that goal.

Shanghai BRICS AI center. Photo: Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality

A new pattern is reshaping global digital politics, and African nations must pay attention. The US–Malaysia trade agreement, signed in October 2025, highlights a strategy in which powerful countries design rules that give technology companies broad access to the data of other nations. The agreement instructs Malaysia to “ensure the cross-border transfer of data by electronic means across trusted borders” and prohibits “digital services taxes … that discriminate against US companies.” These clauses establish a legal structure that positions US corporations at the center of Malaysia’s digital economy and places significant limits on national control.

Digital trade and AI governance is defined by imperialism

This arrangement reflects an emerging template for the Global South. It operates through legislation, infrastructure, and digital flows. The approach uses legal and technical mechanisms to determine who controls data and who benefits from it. Digital trade now serves as the main entry point for artificial intelligence systems that depend on continuous access to data, storage, and computational capacity. The design of these agreements influences every aspect of how AI will operate in our societies.

Artificial intelligence expands through data, cloud services, and computational power. Foreign companies currently manage most of those systems, and this concentration shapes the economic and political future of the Global South.

Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first leader of the Republic of Ghana, explained in “Neocolonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism” that formal independence provides little protection when external actors direct the key economic structures of a nation. His insight applies to the digital era. African nations have constitutions and legal frameworks, yet foreign companies still determine the architecture of the networks, platforms, and algorithms that organize daily life. The digital environment functions as a territory with boundaries, nodes, and centers of control, and the holders of that infrastructure shape its governance.

The Bandung spirit in the AI era

A coordinated response is necessary. This effort draws inspiration from the recently concluded Global South Academic Forum (GSAF) 2025, and forms the foundation of what I call the Digital Bandung of the 21st Century. The original Bandung Conference of 1955 brought leaders of Africa, Asia, and Latin America together to confront domination and reshape global power relations. A Digital Bandung extends that historical mission into a world organized through data centers, cloud services, and artificial intelligence. It creates a space for countries in the Global South to establish shared standards, negotiate collectively, and develop regional digital capabilities.

The urgency of this work is visible in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Congo provides a large share of the world’s cobalt, a critical mineral for electric vehicles, data centers, and advanced computing. Communities in Congo experience environmental destruction, economic deprivation, and prolonged insecurity. The global digital economy depends on Congolese resources, and Congolese families continue to face instability associated with that demand.

Mineral extraction shapes one part of the digital landscape, and data extraction shapes another. Africans generate digital activity through language, culture, and everyday life. This activity trains AI systems that create commercial value elsewhere. The structure resembles earlier extractive arrangements in which inputs originate in Africa while financial returns accumulate outside the continent.

Strengths and challenges

The Global South also holds significant strengths. Africa possesses critical minerals, a young population, and a growing community of researchers. The Ghana Natural Language Processing (NLP) community produces high-quality language technologies suited to local needs. The Beyond AI initiative in Ghana brings citizens into national discussions on technology, governance, and legislation. These examples show how community-driven innovation can shape the future of AI.

As global interest in African talent increases, new programs require careful scrutiny. The launch of OpenAI’s first African AI academy at the University of Lagos has generated public enthusiasm, and it also raises important questions. In Ghana, the Minister of Communications and Digitalization recently promoted Google’s Gemini app on his official social-media account. The announcement did not describe the data policy, the protections in place for participants, or the arrangements that govern how user data is stored, accessed, or transferred.

In both cases, the public lacks information about how data from this app contributes to the development of foreign AI systems or how value returns to Nigerian and Ghanaian communities. Independent research shows that many AI companies retain extensive user data and metadata without clear public documentation. Weak data-governance frameworks increase the risk of exposure and enable large-scale extraction of digital activity.

Open-source developments offer another avenue. Models such as DeepSeek and Qwen, along with newly released open models from OpenAI, create opportunities for adaptation and experimentation. Researchers can build tools that reflect African languages and cultural knowledge. This work becomes meaningful when supported by strong institutions, community involvement, and public investment.

Digital sovereignty through regional integration

A regional approach enhances these efforts. Individual countries face limitations when negotiating with multinational technology companies. Collective action through African institutions or Global South alliances strengthens negotiating power and supports the creation of shared digital norms.

Recent infrastructure failures highlight the scale of vulnerability. In March 2024, a subsea-cable disruption cut off millions across West Africa from the internet. The event revealed Africa’s limited authority over the systems that sustain its digital life. Later, in October 2025, a large-scale outage at Amazon Web Services disrupted major platforms, payment systems, and cloud-hosted services across several continents. African users experienced delays, failures, and service interruptions because critical applications depend on infrastructure controlled outside the continent. These incidents show how a single point of failure in foreign-owned systems can destabilize entire economies.

A long-term plan for digital sovereignty requires several commitments. Africa needs regional data centers, distributed cloud infrastructure, and resilient connectivity under African control. National legislation must emerge from African experience and community consultation. Data must be recognized as a national resource that requires public oversight. Resource flows must be transparent, and mineral wealth must contribute to the well-being of the communities where the wealth comes from. Collaboration with BRICS partners and South–South networks can strengthen the scientific foundations of AI systems developed in Africa.

Digital sovereignty shapes economic opportunity, public administration, and collective memory. It determines how decisions are made and how communities participate in technological change.

An alternative political future necessitates digital independence

Earlier generations in Africa fought for political independence. This generation faces this, plus the challenge of digital independence. Subsea cables follow established routes. Data moves through systems built and governed elsewhere. Minerals from Congo continue to support the infrastructure of powerful nations.

The Global South can shape a different future through coordination, shared standards, and strategic investment. A Digital Bandung provides a pathway toward that goal.

It is time to claim our minerals, our data, our infrastructures, and our collective destiny.

Kambale Musavuli is an analyst with the Center for Research on the Congo-Kinshasa, specializing in Central and West African affairs. He is also a panafrican technology and policy strategist and the Founder of Aether Strategies, a strategic advisory firm shaping AI governance and digital self-reliance across Africa. Musavuli advises policymakers in Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo on national AI strategies.

Courtesy: Peoples dispatch

Kuwait Taps Baker Hughes to Boost Output From Mature Fields

By Charles Kennedy - Dec 26, 2025

Baker Hughes has secured a multi-year contract with Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to deploy advanced artificial lift technologies across Kuwait’s oil and gas fields, underscoring the country’s focus on maximizing output from mature reservoirs through digitalization and automation.

Under the agreement, Baker Hughes will supply electrical submersible pumps (ESPs) alongside installation, surveillance, and maintenance services designed to enhance production reliability and reduce downtime. The artificial lift systems will be integrated with Baker Hughes’ FusionPro intelligent production drive and Leucipa automated field production platform, enabling real-time monitoring, optimized performance, and lower nonproductive time across KOC’s operations.

“Technology is unlocking new value from established fields around the world, and Baker Hughes and KOC have been at the forefront of these advancements,” said Amerino Gatti, executive vice president of Oilfield Services & Equipment at Baker Hughes. He noted that the company’s artificial lift systems have operated in Kuwait’s oilfields for nearly two decades, building a track record for efficiency and reliability.

The latest award builds on Baker Hughes’ expanding footprint in Kuwait. In the third quarter, KOC awarded the company a separate contract for advanced wireline and perforation services, including Proxima advanced logging technologies aimed at improving reservoir evaluation, optimizing production, and increasing recovery rates.

Baker Hughes has maintained a long-standing presence in Kuwait and operates a 25,000-square-meter workshop in the country dedicated to testing, diagnostics, and failure analysis of artificial lift equipment. Earlier this year, the company also signed a memorandum of understanding with local partners to establish a research and development center in Kuwait’s Ahmadi Innovation Valley, supporting upstream technology innovation and the development of local technical expertise.

The new contract highlights Kuwait’s strategy of leveraging advanced oilfield technologies to sustain production from mature assets while improving operational efficiency and field economics.

  NUKE NEWZ  

 WAIT, WHAT?!

US, Russia Allegedly Discuss Nuclear Plant Crypto Mining

By Alex Kimani - Dec 26, 2025

Russian media claimed on Friday that the Trump administration held talks with Russia over joint management of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, including the potential to use its power for crypto mining, Russian newspaper Kommersant has revealed. The discussions, which have not been independently confirmed, were allegedly held without Ukraine’s participation, and likewise proposed resuming electricity supply to Ukraine.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is currently not supplying electricity to Ukraine, with its six reactors in cold shutdown since 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. However, ZNNP still requires constant external power from Ukraine's grid to cool the reactors and spent fuel, a connection that is frequently lost due to the ongoing conflict.

The plant is under Russian control, and its operations are focused solely on nuclear safety and cooling, relying on emergency generators when the main power lines are cut, which happens often. With a total installed capacity of 5.7 gigawatts (5,700 megawatts), ZNNP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Located in Enerhodar, ZNNP supplied ~20% of Ukraine's electricity.

Ukraine continues to attack Russia’s energy infrastructure with peace talks still ongoing. Ukraine hit a major Russian oil refinery with British Storm Shadow missiles on Thursday.

According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Ukraine hit the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Rostov, one of southern Russia's biggest suppliers of oil products. Located 1,400km (870 miles) from the Ukrainian border, the giant refinery is responsible for supplying jet fuel and diesel to Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.

Last month, a Ukrainian drone strike on an oil-loading facility near Novorossiysk completely stopped exports, affecting 2% of global supply. Ukraine's deep-strike drone campaign targeting Russia's oil and gas production facilities has impacted half of Russia’s major oil and gas facilities and cost its bigger adversary ~10% of its refining capacity, according to industry experts.

"Ten percent, it's not an astonishing number," says Tatiana Mitrova of Columbia University. "But it is still something that starts to be felt with the Russian domestic fuel crisis, with reduced oil refined products exports, and general tension inside the Russian oil sector."

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

AI boom set to turbocharge uranium demand in 2026

MINING.COM Editor | December 26, 2025 

Enriched uranium billet. (Stock image by RHJ)

Artificial intelligence is emerging as a major new driver of global electricity demand, reinforcing the investment case for nuclear power and tightening the outlook for uranium markets heading into 2026.

A global investor survey commissioned by Uranium.io shows that the rapid expansion of AI systems and hyperscale data centres is already reshaping long-term expectations for nuclear generation and uranium procurement. Based on responses from more than 600 investors, the study finds that electricity demand linked to AI is increasingly viewed as structural rather than cyclical, at a time when uranium supply is already constrained.

More than 63% of respondents believe AI-related consumption will become a material factor in nuclear planning over the next decade, arguing that traditional demand models underestimate the power needs of large-scale computing. As a result, nuclear energy is gaining renewed attention as a reliable, carbon-free baseload option capable of supporting surging digital infrastructure.

Limited supply relief

That demand signal is colliding with a market facing persistent supply challenges. A majority of surveyed investors expect mined uranium to meet less than 75% of future reactor requirements, citing years of underinvestment, long permitting timelines and declining secondary supplies. Against that backdrop, more than 85% anticipate higher prices into 2026, with many pointing to a $100–$120/lb range and some referencing upside scenarios as high as $135/lb if supply fails to respond.

Source: Uranium Unlocked: The Future of AI & Global Energy Demand.

Sprott Asset Management echoes that view in its latest uranium outlook, describing a market defined by “two speeds”: short-term volatility masking increasingly bullish long-term fundamentals. The firm expects a supply deficit to widen over the coming decade as global mine production continues to lag reactor demand, while utility contracting remains below replacement levels. In Sprott’s assessment, higher prices will be required to incentivize restarts and greenfield developments needed to close the gap.

Despite a choppy 2025, Sprott sees conditions aligning for a catch-up trade in 2026. Long-term uranium prices have begun to move higher, with utilities showing greater willingness to accept elevated contract levels, even as spot prices remain relatively contained. The firm argues that utilities can defer procurement only so long before replacement needs force them back into the market.

Incentives on the rise

Policy momentum is adding another layer of support. Investors surveyed by Uranium.io highlighted planned and proposed nuclear capacity additions across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia as key demand signals. Incentives in the US and Canada, Europe’s inclusion of nuclear within sustainable finance frameworks, and state-backed expansion programmes in countries such as China, South Korea and the UAE are reinforcing the role of nuclear in future energy systems.

Source: Uranium Unlocked: The Future of AI & Global Energy Demand.

Taken together, the rise of AI-driven power demand, tightening uranium supply and improving policy support are shifting how investors frame the commodity. Rather than a fuel tied narrowly to reactor build cycles, uranium is increasingly viewed through the lens of energy security and critical infrastructure. For many market participants, that combination points to a structurally stronger uranium market beyond 2026.

Texas Energy Firm Wants to Turn Naval Reactors Into Powerplants

Decommissioned reactors from subs and carriers could power datacenters, according to Bloomberg

U.S. Navy subs have high power-to-weight ratios and long endurance thanks to nuclear propulsion (USN file image)

Published Dec 26, 2025 2:22 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

An American energy company has come up with a novel way to generate nuclear power for civilian uses without the high cost and long timeline of building a new nuclear plant. Texas-based HGP Intelligent Energy LLC wants to reuse a pair of retired naval reactors to generate power for a data center, according to Bloomberg, augmenting the grid with a local and long-lasting source of electricity. 

According to HGP, a pair of submarine or aircraft carrier reactors could provide about 500 megawatts of power, which could be used to satisfy the ever-increasing demands of warehouse-sized computing centers. One complete plant would cost about $2 billion, a tiny fraction of the expense of building a new civilian nuclear powerplant. 

Newbuild nuclear stations take years to permit and construct because of the perceived risks and the complexity of the task involved, and they require a large and hard-to-find workforce of talented welders and pipefitters. By contrast, HGP thinks that a naval reactor-based powerplant could be up and running by 2029, just four years away.

In operation, the equipment would be intimately familiar to veterans of the U.S. Navy's nuclear propulsion program, the men and women known as "Navy nukes," so the plant operator could hire qualified technicians from day one. Similarly, the supply chain for spare parts has been established for decades.

There is one challenge for scaling: security. American naval reactors run on weapons-grade, high-enriched uranium. If extracted from reactor fuel rods, the 93% uranium-235 fuel could be used to make nuclear weapons, and it is considered a proliferation risk. The reactor technology itself is among the defense establishment's most closely-guarded secrets.

The first plant project, according to a proposal filed with the Energy Department and seen by Bloomberg, would be built at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The small city is home of Oak Ridge National Lab, the secure facility that helped develop the Navy's first nuclear propulsion reactors and train its first nuclear-qualified officers. ORNL has housed some of the nation's most important nuclear research since World War II, and it is a leading employer of ex-Navy nuclear personnel.  

HGP has experience as a grid-scale project developer, having installed 20 sites with battery backup power storage and thermal-power generating capacity for grid resilience. It was among the first battery-backup developers in Texas, and now has nearly two dozen assets in development. 

Texas Launches $350 Million Nuclear Energy Initiative

By Alex Kimani - Dec 26, 2025

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has congratulated the Texas Legislature for passing House Bill 14, saying it will help revolutionize Texas’ energy sector and cement the state’s role in leading a nuclear power renaissance in the United States.

“Texas is the energy capital of the world, and this legislation will position Texas at the forefront of America’s nuclear renaissance,” said Governor Abbott. “By creating the Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office and investing $350 million–the largest national commitment--we will jumpstart next-generation nuclear development and deployment. This initiative will also strengthen Texas’ nuclear manufacturing capacity, rebuild a domestic fuel cycle supply chain, and train the future nuclear workforce. I look forward to signing it into law.”

The U.S. nuclear power sector is seeing renewed momentum as electricity demand rises, particularly from data centers, alongside policy support for carbon-free generation and growing interest in long-duration, firm power. Large technology companies are increasingly positioning themselves around nuclear energy through long-term power contracts, development partnerships, and early-stage investments, marking a shift from decades of limited new nuclear deployment.

Microsoft has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy tied to the company’s nuclear generation fleet, as Constellation evaluates the future of assets including the Three Mile Island site in Pennsylvania. Separately, Microsoft is backing nuclear fusion development through its partnership with Helion Energy. Alphabet has partnered with nuclear startup Kairos Power to support the development of small modular reactor technology, with the aim of sourcing power from future reactors expected to come online in the 2030s. Google has also invested in fusion developer TAE Technologies and early-stage fission company Elemental Power.

Meta Platforms has also signed a 20-year agreement with Constellation Energy for electricity from an existing nuclear reactor in Illinois and has issued a request for proposals seeking 1–4 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity in the United States. Meanwhile, TerraPower, founded and backed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is developing a sodium-cooled fast reactor, with a demonstration project underway in Wyoming. Oklo, backed by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, is developing small-scale nuclear reactors aimed at supplying power to data centers, with the company targeting initial deployment later this decade, subject to regulatory approval.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

North Korea Unveils its First Nuclear-Powered Submarine

Image courtesy KCNA

Published Dec 25, 2025 8:40 PM by The Maritime Executive

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has unveiled the completed hull of what his government claims to be its first nuclear-powered submarine. 

To date, North Korea's submarine fleet has consisted of Soviet-era conventionally powered attack subs, which have comparatively limited capability in a modern context. North Korea also commissioned a conventionally-powered ballistic missile sub, the Yongung, in the 2010s and used it to test-fire a sub-launched ballistic missile in 2016. A second ballistic missile sub crafted out of a modified 1960s-era Romeo-class attack sub was spotted in 2019. 

The new nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed ballistic missile sub has been under construction for some time, and its completed hull was first unveiled on Christmas Day. It is likely near to being fully outfitted, ex-submariner and analyst Moon Keun-Sik of Hanyang University told AP. Ballistic missile launch trials may still be some years off, given the challenges of bringing a first-in-class sub into operation and training a naval reactor crew. 

North Korea is capable of producing its own nuclear fuel, nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Its access to naval reactor technology is less certain, as is the functionality of the vessel that Kim revealed on December 25. If it is a functional vessel, speculation has circulated about whether Russia could have supplied technical assistance for the North Korean reactor program - or even a complete reactor.

Some form of a military-to-military trade between Russia and the North is likely: Kim supplied 10,000 North Korean infantry troops to assist Russian military operations against Ukraine in 2024, and the force sustained heavy losses before being ultimately withdrawn. The North has also provided Russia with hundreds of thousands of rounds of howitzer ammunition, sustaining Russian artillery units for the war.

In unveiling the new sub, Kim also criticized South Korea's plans to build the same type of equipment. In a statement carried by state media, he called the newly-announced joint U.S.-South Korean nuclear attack sub development program an "aggressive act that seriously infringes on national safety and maritime sovereignty that must be countered," and said that North Korea would "further accelerate" its nuclear-navy program in response. 

  

Experts Question Russia's Ability and Desire to Attack NATO

By RFE/RL staff - Dec 26, 2025

• Senior European officials, including NATO chief Mark Rutte and top German and Polish generals, have issued frequent and serious warnings in 2025 about the possibility of a direct conflict with Russia.
• 
  
• Skeptics argue that Russia's inability to subdue Ukraine and the lack of concrete evidence for an immediate attack suggest these warnings may be used to push NATO members to meet defense spending commitments or gain political leverage.
• 
  
• The long-term risk of a military provocation is considered likely, especially if the war in Ukraine freezes, though the timeline for a full-scale attack on a NATO member like Estonia is debated, ranging from the near future to 5-10 years away.
• 
  

The polite applause faded and NATO chief Mark Rutte arranged his papers neatly on the rostrum. It took him 62 seconds to get to the point.

“The dark forces of oppression are on the march again,” he said. “We are Russia’s next target.”

Rutte’s speech in Berlin on December 11 was just the latest in an unprecedented series of warnings of direct conflict with Russia made in 2025 by senior European officials and intelligence agencies.

In February, Danish intelligence said “Russia sees itself in conflict with the West and is preparing for a war against NATO;” in June, Germany’s top general said an attack may come within four years; in November, his words were echoed by his Polish counterpart -- two days after German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said “some military historians even believe we have already had our last summer of peace.”

This list of warnings is far from exhaustive. Rutte has been most frequent.

In January, he urged NATO members to hike defense spending or get Russian language classes, while in June he said an attack could be coordinated with a Chinese assault on Taiwan.

His December 11 speech was his loudest alarm bell yet, speaking of “the scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured” with “mass mobilization, millions displaced.”

What's Behind The Warnings?

The frequent comments have made headlines -- and raised question marks, especially with the United States showing waning interest in maintaining the levels of security support it has given Europe in the past.

“This is something that I’ve been pondering especially as there is no evidence at all that Russia can or wants to attack NATO,” John Foreman, a former British military attache in Moscow and Kyiv, told RFE/RL.

“I think a number of politicians and military types are using the specter of the Russian threat for more prosaic reasons: Rutte to encourage NATO nations to meet their spending commitments. The Poles to get more NATO on their territory,” he added.

Other skeptics have pointed out that after nearly four years of war Russia has been unable to subdue Ukraine -- even if it has been edging forward this year at enormous cost in casualties and equipment.

Teemu Tammikko, from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, also said that Russia did not appear “willing and able to attack NATO for the moment.”

But he told RFE/RL’s Russian Service that President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power was “dependent on an external threat,” meaning “in the longer term, some kind of direct military provocation is likely, especially if the war in Ukraine freezes.”

Some argue this is already happening, such as with Russian drone and air incursions into NATO airspace. But the warnings issued this year hint at much darker scenarios.

Attack On Estonia

A paper issued by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) on December 18 focuses on fears of a direct attack on Estonia to test the willingness of the United States and other NATO allies to fight.

“In Europe, this anxiety sits atop a deeper fear: that the American government, distracted by domestic politics and tempted by retrenchment, might soon reduce its presence or attach conditions to its role in Europe’s defense,” it says.

Describing Estonia as “small, flat, and exposed,” the report says a 2016 wargame predicted Russian forces could seize the capital within 60 hours of an invasion.

But it also says that Russia would need 5-10 years after the end of the war in Ukraine “to refit and rearm for such an attack” -- a much longer timeframe than those posited by Rutte, Pistorius, and others.

It’s notable that US officials have not repeated European warnings.

The recently released National Security Strategy argues that “European allies enjoy a significant hard power advantage over Russia by almost every measure, save nuclear weapons.”

But it also acknowledges the need for US diplomatic engagement “to mitigate the risk of conflict between Russia and European states.”

'Warmongers'

Kremlin officials have denounced European leaders as “warmongers” and denied any desire to attack. They were making similar comments about Ukraine on the eve of their full-scale invasion in February 2022, though this does not automatically mean there are plans for further aggression.

“Russia is not pursuing the military goals attributed to our country,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on December 22. “As the President of Russia has already said, we are even prepared to guarantee this legally as part of a settlement” of the war in Ukraine, he added.

But any such commitment would be unlikely to be taken seriously by many in the West. Russia also signed and then broke promises to respect Ukraine’s borders in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.

Ultimately, it may all depend on one man.

“As we know, Russia is not a democracy. Such a decision would essentially just be a result of Vladimir Putin deciding that he wanted to attack a European country which is a NATO member state, or another European country, so we just have no way of knowing,” Elizabeth Braw, of the RUSI defense and security think tank, told RFE/RL’s Russian Service.

“That's why you see military leaders all over Europe saying we have to be prepared for something to happen tomorrow. It may happen five years, 10 years from now or never, but you can't bank on it.”

By RFE/RL

Vessels Damaged as Russia Intensifies Attacks on Ukraine’s Ports

A ship and a barge were damaged during the latest attack on Odesa (Oleksiy Kuleba on Telegram)

Published Dec 26, 2025 1:24 PM by The Maritime Executive

Russia appears to be intensifying its assault on the Black Sea ports of Ukraine. The relentless barrage continued for a second night at the Port of Odesa with reports of damage to multiple vessels and port infrastructure.

Ukraine says the attack consisted of 99 drones and one ballistic missile. They reported shooting down or jamming 73 of the drones, but 26 struck 16 locations in Ukraine. 

It was the second consecutive night of strikes in Odesa, causing damage to administrative buildings, grain elevators, other equipment, and warehouses. A cargo ship registered in Palau and a barge owned by Slovakian interests were both reported damaged in the port. The barge named Majestic, the Slovakian officials said, had been damaged in a previous attack and was no longer seaworthy. No Slovakians were aboard the vessel, they reported.

Ukraine said there were no injuries from the latest attack. The previous night, one person was killed, and two others were injured.

 

(Oleksii Kuleba photo)

 

The officials asserted that Russia has escalated the attacks on the region after vowing to cut off Ukraine from the Black Sea after the attacks on the oil tankers. The Ukrainians assert that Russia is deliberately destroying energy and civilian infrastructure, leaving people without power, water, and heating amidst the cold winter temperatures. They assert that Russia has increased its focus on destroying logistics through the seaport attacks, aiming at the Ukrainian economy and food security.

Beyond Odesa, there were reports of strikes in the Izmail district that also damaged port infrastructure.

A drone strike on the terminal at Mykolaiv region damaged a vessel registered in Liberia.

Ukrainian officials said efforts were underway to restore the damage to the power system. Port workers are reported to be surveying the extent of the damage.