Kyiv said its air defences shot down 13 explosive “kamikaze” drones fired by the Russian military, as a United Nations agency warned that Moscow’s attacks on critical infrastructure were putting the welfare of nearly seven million Ukrainian children at risk this winter.
Heavy fighting continued in the eastern Donetsk province, particularly around the towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, and Ukrainian officials said two adults and an eight-year-old boy where killed in Russian shelling of the recently liberated southern city of Kherson.
The Kremlin said the withdrawal of its troops from Ukraine – as proposed this week by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy – was “not on the agenda”, but Kyiv said 64 of its troops and one US citizen had been freed by Russia in the latest in recent series of prisoner exchanges.
“The terrorists began the morning with 13 Shahed (drones). All 13 were shot down by Ukrainian air defence, according to preliminary information. Well done guys, I’m proud,” Mr Zelenskiy said after the all-clear sounded following the dawn drone attack on Kyiv.
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Ukraine and the West say Iran has supplied the drones to Russia, but Moscow denies that and also rejects allegations that its strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid – which have destroyed more than a third of the nation’s power system – constitute a war crime.
“Continuing attacks on critical energy infrastructure in Ukraine have left almost every child in Ukraine – nearly seven million children – without sustained access to electricity, heating and water, putting them at increased risk as temperatures continue to drop and winter deepens,” Unicef said on Wednesday.
“Millions of children are facing a bleak winter ... Beyond the immediate threats the freezing conditions bring, children are also deprived of the ability to learn or stay connected with friends and family, putting both their physical and their mental health at desperate risk,” said the agency’s executive director Catherine Russell.
“The rules of war are clear – children and the essential civilian infrastructure they rely on to survive must be protected,” she added.
Rolling blackouts continued across Ukraine as engineers sought to repair severe damage to power stations and electricity lines in freezing and snowy conditions.
“Wednesday ... started with a massive drone attack. Thanks to the brilliant work of the air defence forces, energy infrastructure facilities were not damaged,” state power firm Ukrenergo said.
“But Ukraine’s power system is still in a difficult situation because of the large amount of damage to energy infrastructure. There is still a significant shortage of electricity. The most difficult situation is in the east – energy facilities are constantly damaged due to almost daily shelling. Repair work is slowed by the danger to the lives of repair crews.”
Officials said six people were hurt on Wednesday as shells hit Kherson, striking the regional administration building in the centre of a city that Ukrainian forces retook last month from Russian troops who retreated across the Dnipro river.
Kyiv said 64 of its soldiers were freed by Moscow in a prisoner swap that also included US citizen Suedi Murekezi, who is reportedly a civilian whom the Russians detained during their occupation of Kherson.
