A midnight drone attack damaged infrastructure in the southern Ukrainian Odessa region, the head of the local regional military administration, Oleg Kiper, reported on Telegram, quoted by Telegram.
"Energy facilities were damaged, including a photovoltaic power plant. The fires that broke out were quickly extinguished by units of the State Emergency Service," Kiper reported.
Vital facilities and critical infrastructure have switched to power supply from backup sources, the regional governor added.
Ukraine is working to resume the exchange of prisoners of war with Russia. Kiev hopes to reach an agreement on the release of 1,200 Ukrainians, President Volodymyr Zelensky and the chairman of the Security Council of the President of Ukraine, reported by Reuters.
"We hope that the exchange (of prisoners of war) will resume", Zelensky said in a video message on Telegram today. "Currently, many meetings, negotiations and telephone conversations are underway dedicated to this." His security chief Rustem Umerov said yesterday that he had participated in consultations in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, with the support of Kiev's partners, to resume the exchange process. "As a result of these negotiations, the parties agreed to return to the Istanbul agreements," Umerov wrote on Telegram. "This concerns the release of 1,200 Ukrainians." The Istanbul agreements are agreements for the coordinated return of prisoners of war, reached with the mediation of Turkey in 2022. They set the rules under which Russia and Ukraine have subsequently exchanged thousands of prisoners of war. But these exchanges are rare and the process is often interrupted by an aggravation of the situation on the battlefield. The war was started by Russia in February 2022, when its troops invaded Ukraine. According to Umerov, consultations are due in the near future to discuss the procedural and organizational details of a possible exchange. "We are working tirelessly to ensure that the Ukrainians who will return from captivity are home for the New Year and Christmas – at the family table with his loved ones, "he pointed out. Zelensky announced that changes are coming to the top of the most important Ukrainian energy companies. The conditions for the formation of a new supervisory board at the state nuclear company "Energoatom" must be met within a week, Zelensky stressed. He added that the company's executive board will also be completely replaced. There will also be changes in the management of the state-owned hydroelectric power plant operator "Ukrhydroenergo", the operator of the gas pipeline system in Ukraine and the state-owned energy giant "Naftogaz". "Energoatom" is at the center of the largest corruption scandal in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office announced that they are investigating a major corruption scheme related to "Energoatom", through which nearly $ 100 million was laundered. The checks focus on huge bribes allegedly paid for the construction of protective facilities designed to protect energy facilities from Russian air strikes. Two ministers resigned after the scandal broke.