Ukraine shot down 14 attack drones and a cruise missile fired by Russia at its south and east overnight, but debris from a downed drone damaged a warehouse at the Black Sea port of Odesa, officials said on Monday.
Air defences brought down nine Iranian-made Shahed drones over the southern region of Odesa, which is home to Ukraine’s main Black Sea ports, and no one was reported injured, governor Oleh Kiper wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
There was no comment from Moscow, which denies targeting civilian infrastructure.
Russia has intensified attacks on port and grain infrastructure since quitting a U.N.-brokered deal in July that had allowed Kyiv to ship its grain via the Black Sea.
Ukraine, a major grain producer, has been trying to establish a new shipping corridor to revive its exports across the Black Sea, traditionally its main route to global markets, despite a de facto Russian blockade.
The regions of Kherson in the south, Donetsk in the east and Sumy in the northeast were also targeted in the attack, the Interior Ministry said.
All 14 drones, including 13 Shaheds, and a cruise missile were shot down in the strike, the air force said, praising air defence systems supplied by the West.
“Western weapons have proven and continue to prove their effectiveness on the battlefield,” Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the air force, wrote in a statement on Telegram.
Russia has carried out frequent air strikes across Ukrainian regions since launching its full-scale invasion in February, 2022. Kyiv fears Russia is going to step up attacks on its power grid to cripple infrastructure as winter begins to set in.
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said that Russian shelling hit a thermal power station in Donetsk region on Sunday evening. The Interior Ministry said there had been a large fire.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, reported one of its thermal power stations had been shelled by Russia but provided no further details.
Ukraine hopes to receive €18-billion ($26-billion) of assistance from the European Union next year, the same amount it secured for 2023, officials said on Monday.
Kyiv has just received €1.5-billion ($2.19-billion) in a ninth tranche of financial assistance from the EU, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on the Telegram messaging app.
“EU budget support to Ukraine in 2023 already amounts to 15 billion euros – this is one of the most important factors helping Ukraine to be economically resilient and stable.”
Kyiv depends heavily on foreign financial aid after its economy shrank by about a third last year owing to the war with Russia. Millions fled the war, towns and cities were bombed, logistics routes and supply chains disrupted, and the power sector and critical infrastructure damaged by air strikes.
Two more tranches of EU support are expected in the coming months, bringing the total amount this year to €18-billion, Kyiv’s Finance Ministry said.
The Ukrainian government has started working jointly with the EU on a new long-term programme worth a total of €50-billion spread over four years, Shmyhal said. The government hopes to get €18-billion from the facility next year, he said.
Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko told Reuters earlier this month that donor “tiredness” was growing as the war with Russia dragged on.
The government plans for a 2024 budget with an approximately $57-billion deficit and hopes to cover the shortfall with international financial aid.