Nearly 300,000 people in Ukrainian city of Odesa without power or water after Russian drone strikes – Europe live | Ukraine

Good morning, Taz Ali here to bring you the latest news for our Europe live blog.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been left without power or water supply in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa after Russia launched a large-scale overnight drone strike, according to local officials. Nearly 300,000 people have been affected by the power outage, while one person has been reported injured.

It was part of a widespread attack across the country that targeted energy infrastructure in cities including the captial Kyiv and Dnipro in south-east Ukraine, an official said.

“Hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles targeted energy system, depriving people of power, heating, and water,” Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs, Andrii Sybiha, said on social media. He added that a toddler and four-year-old child were among the dozen or so injured from last night’s attack.

While diplomatic efforts have been ongoing to try to bring an end to the war, Russia has pressed on with attacks in Ukraine that have mainly aimed at weakening the country’s energy systems in the depths of winter.

Meanwhile, EU leaders are meeting at a castle in Belgium today to brainstorm how to compete with the US and China and transform the bloc into a major economic powerhouse. They’re not expected to make any decisions at the informal summit in the Alden Biesen Castle, but the talks might give some indication on how the 27 member states plan to strengthen the single market, reduce Europe’s dependence on foreign powers and make the EU more competitive.

We will also bring you the latest on the flooding and devastation wrought in Portugal and other parts of Europe after a succession of deadly winter storms. It has led to the resignation of Portugal’s interior minister Maria Lúcia Amaral over criticism of her government’s response to the weather disasters.