Ukraine’s air force said Saturday that it downed nine of 14 Russian drones targeting Ukraine’s central and southern regions.
The Iranian-made Shahed drones were mainly aimed at “energy infrastructure facilities” in the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to air force officials.
The town most affected by the attack was Krivy Rig, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
No deaths or injuries were reported, but Agence France-Presse reported that 15,000 people are without electricity.
Agricultural exports increase
Meanwhile, the British Defense Ministry said Saturday that Ukraine exported more agricultural products in December than at any other point since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The ministry said the reopening of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports has been a critical contribution to international trade and the world’s food supply. Ukraine’s grain exports have now surpassed the volume it achieved under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
The ministry also said Russia has been largely prevented from operating in the western Black Sea because of the presence of Ukrainian missiles and uncrewed surface vessels.
Aid workers killed and injured
The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, on Friday condemned a Thursday attack on aid workers in southern Ukraine that killed two and injured three.
The Swiss nongovernmental aid group HEKS/EPER reported two of its employees were targeted in an attack late Thursday while conducting a field assessment in southeastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials later reported the two aid workers were French nationals killed in a drone attack in the town of Beryslav in the Kherson region.
The aid workers have not been identified.
In a statement, Brown said she was “profoundly distressed” by the deaths and that her thoughts were with their families and colleagues “during this absolutely horrific time.”
The humanitarian coordinator went on to say she was “shocked to hear the aid workers’ vehicles were attacked in a manner similar to a tragic incident in Chasiv Yar, in the east of Ukraine, just a week ago, when a humanitarian vehicle was hit and an aid worker injured.”
Brown said international humanitarian law prohibits attacks on humanitarian workers and “the repeated violations should be of grave concern to the world.”
French President Emmanuel Macron called the attacks on the French aid workers “a cowardly and outrageous act.”
“My solidarity goes out to all the volunteers who are committed to helping people,” he wrote on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said on X that Russia “will have to answer for its crimes.”
Zelenskyy offered condolences and expressed his gratitude for the service of the French aid workers.
“Russian terror knows no boundaries or victims’ nationalities,” he said on social media platform X. “The brave French aid workers assisted people, and we will always be grateful for their humanity.”
Ukrainian, Canadian diplomats meet
Also Friday, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly was in Kyiv, where she met for talks with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba.
At a joint news conference following their talks, the two top diplomats announced a new international coalition to bring back Ukrainian children taken illegally to Russia.
Kuleba also said he is continuing to work to use frozen Russian assets to help pay for Ukraine’s recovery from the war.
Some information in this report was provided by Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
