Foreign ships hit by Russia in the Black Sea, Ukraine announces. One person killed and several injured

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said on Friday that Russian forces attacked two foreign-flagged transport ships with drones in the Odesa region of southern Ukraine, reports Reuters.

The Ukrainian official said one Syrian citizen was killed and several others were injured in the attack.

According to the deputy prime minister, one of the ships was heading to the port of Chornomorsk to pick up a shipment of grain and has the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis. The other, with the flag of the Comoros Islands, was hit near the port of Odesa, while carrying soybeans.

“Unfortunately, the attack resulted in the death of one crew member, a Syrian citizen,” Kuleba added.

Also on Friday, an attack by Russian forces left half of the blocks in the capital Kyiv without heating, in temperatures of -10 degrees Celsius, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine overnight with 242 drones and 36 missiles. Kyiv and its suburbs were the main targets, the Ukrainian air force says. The attack hit energy infrastructure and several residential buildings in the capital, killing at least four people and injuring 19 others.