Military officials in Ukraine say Russia launched two dozen drones overnight that targeted the country’s critical infrastructure, knocking out electricity to locales in central Ukraine and the northeast.
Ukraine energy provider Ukrenergo said Friday that some damage was sustained at its facilities, resulting in a cutoff of electricity in the city of Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Agence France-Presse quoted officials in northeastern Kharkiv as saying some 64 towns and settlements had also been left without electricity because of Russian shelling.
Ukraine said its forces shot down 11 of the drones.
Meanwhile, France confirmed on Friday that two French volunteer aid workers were killed Thursday in a Russian drone attack near the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson.
“Two French aid workers have been killed in Ukraine by a Russian strike. A cowardly and outrageous act. My solidarity goes out to all the volunteers who are committed to helping people,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne wrote in a post, Russia that “will have to answer for its crimes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered condolences and expressed gratitude for the service of the French aid workers.
“Russian terror knows no boundaries or victims’ nationalities,” he said in a media post on X. “The brave French aid workers assisted people and we will always be grateful for their humanity,” he noted.__VOA News
