Two French aid workers killed in Russian drone attack

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Two French volunteer aid workers have been killed in a Russian drone attack in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, Paris has confirmed.
“Russian barbarity has targeted civilians in Ukraine. Two French aid workers have paid with their lives for their engagement with Ukrainian people, three are injured,” Stephane Sejourne, the French foreign minister, wrote in a post on social media platform X.
He added that Russia “will have to answer for its crimes”, while Emmanuel Macron called the killings a “cowardly and disgraceful act”.
“My support goes to all volunteers who engage in helping other nations,” Mr Macron added.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the “humanity” of the aid workers, saying “the brave French aid workers assisted people and we will always be grateful for their humanity”.
The names of the aid workers have not yet been released.
Thank you for following our coverage of the Ukraine-Russia war. The key developments from the day were:
Judges at the International Court of Justice have ruled that the case Ukraine started accusing Russia of violating international law by accusing Ukraine of genocide can move forward.
Ukraine brought the case at the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, days after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb 24 2022.
The illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is continuing.The map below is the latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 02 February 2024. Find out more about Defence Intelligence’s use of language: https://t.co/o4WH85VnAr#StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/hlFVQhVOVU
Two workers with Swiss Church Aid have been killed in an attack in southeastern Ukraine and other staff members were wounded, the non-governmental organisation said on Friday.
“A group of employees was attacked … during a humanitarian intervention” on Thursday, the aid organisation of the Protestant church in Switzerland said, without giving their nationality, adding: “Two of the team’s valued colleagues tragically lost their lives and other employees were injured.”
Russia has created more than half a million new jobs in its defence sector to meet soaring demand on the battlefield, Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
The Kremlin has thrown massive resources at its full-scale assault on Ukraine, with the defence sector accounting for much of the sanction-hit economy’s growth.
“In the last year and a half alone, 520,000 new jobs have been created in defence,” Mr Putin said. “In order to be successful on the battlefield today, it is necessary to react quickly and adequately to what is happening there. So whoever does it all faster, wins.”
After months of combat that has failed to yield major territorial gains for either Russia or Ukraine, Moscow is throwing more manpower into the conflict and ramping up arms production, AFP reports.
Last year, it unveiled plans for a massive 68 per cent hike in spending on the military – more than outlays for education, environmental protection and healthcare spending combined. The spending increase has fuelled demand in Russia’s economy, drawing workers away from labour-starved civilian industries and pushing up inflation.
Unemployment has fallen to a record low and several non-defence sectors have reported a chronic shortage of workers since Russia launched its military campaign against Ukraine almost two years ago.
Russia is understood to have lost another General in its war in Ukraine.
Lt Gen Alexander Tatarenko, 63, was one of ten military personnel thought to have been killed in a suspected Ukrainian missile strike on Belbek airbase in occupied Crimea.
Tatarenko was commander of the Belbek base, which Russia used for strikes on Ukraine and to consolidate Russia’s grip on the Black Sea peninsula.
Russia has not officially announced his death but several pro-war Russian military Telegram channels confirmed the reports.
Joe Biden called Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, on Thursday to praise the institution’s approval of a €50billion package of aid for Ukraine.
Mr Biden commended the EU’s “steadfast support for Ukraine” while von der Leyen stressed the importance of sustained US support for the country.
Polish farmers’ Solidarity trade union is planning a general strike with a blockade of border crossings between Poland and Ukraine, it said, joining similar protests all over Europe.
Farmers in France, Belgium, Portugal, Greece and Germany have been protesting over the impact on farming of the EU’s drive to tackle climate change, as well as opening the door to cheap Ukrainian imports to help Kyiv’s war effort.
Farmers’ complaints across Europe include being choked by green rules, taxes, rising costs and unfair competition from abroad.
“Our patience has run out. Brussels’ position on the last day of January 2024 is unacceptable for our entire agricultural community,” the trade union said in a statement dated Thursday, reported by Reuters.
“Additionally, the passivity of the Polish authorities and declarations of cooperation with the European Commission … regarding the import of agricultural produce and food products from Ukraine leave us with no other choice but to declare a general strike.”
Solidarity said that apart from the blockade of crossings with Ukraine, it planned on-off blockades of roads throughout the country between Feb 9 and March 10.
A separate organisation of Polish farmers had earlier blocked a key border crossing with Ukraine, but the protest was suspended on Jan 6 after the new government agreed to its demands.
Two workers with Swiss Church Aid have been killed in an attack in southeastern Ukraine and other staff members were wounded, the non-governmental organisation said on Friday.
“A group of employees was attacked… during a humanitarian intervention” on Thursday, the aid organisation of the Protestant church in Switzerland said, without giving their nationality, adding: “Two of the team’s valued colleagues tragically lost their lives and other employees were injured.”
Russian forces have struck an 18th-century historical site in Kherson Oblast, the Culture Ministry has said.
 “Today, Russia inflicted yet another blow to our heritage, once again proving that the Russian Federation is purposefully destroying our (Ukraine’s) material culture to erase Ukrainians as a nation,” acting culture minister Rostyslav Karandieiev said, speaking about damage to the Kamianska Sich. 
According to UNESCO, Russia’s war has damaged at least 337 cultural sites in Ukraine between the start of the invasion and Jan 10.
Pressure is mounting on Hungary to ratify Sweden’s bid to join NATO after Budapest finally joined other European Union states in agreeing on new aid to Ukraine.
Viktor Orban said on Friday he “went to the wall” for his country before agreeing to the EU deal worth €50 billion after weeks of resistance.
Hungary had been the only one of the 27 EU member states not to back the deal at a December summit. It is also the only NATO country that has not yet ratified Stockholm’s membership application, a process that requires the backing of all members.
Mr Orban, who has better ties with Russia than other EU states and most NATO members, says his government backs Sweden joining the alliance. Now he faces pressure from abroad to accelerate the process.
Senior US lawmakers have said they wanted Hungary to immediately approve Sweden’s accession.
Opposition lawmakers have called an extraordinary session of parliament for Monday to put Sweden’s NATO accession on the agenda. But lawmakers in the governing Fidesz party told Reuters they would “wait” until a meeting between Mr Orban and Ulf Kristersson, the Swedish prime minister.
Russian schoolchildren will learn about drone technology for military and industrial purposes at craft lessons, the TASS news agency cited a senior official as saying on Friday.
Tatyana Vasilyeva, Russia’s deputy education minister, also told parliament that students would spend more time studying technical drawing, a skill needed for work with blueprints.
Drones, ranging from handheld gadgets to fully-fledged aircraft size, have become one of the key weapons in the Ukrainian conflict. 
A Russian drone strike cut off electricity in Volodymr Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih in the early hours of Friday, the national grid operator Ukrenergo said.
The power outages overnight trapped 113 miners underground but they were rescued by the early hours of Friday morning, the city’s mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said.Ukraine’s air defence said they shot down 11 out of 24 Russian drones targeting critical infrastructure in the southeast overnight.
Mr Vilkul said on Telegram that three drones were shot down and there had been a “blow to the critical infrastructure of our city”.He said around 100,000 people in the Saksagan, Dovhyntsiv, and Pokrovsky districts of the city were left without electricity, including some of the city’s hospitals, kindergartens, and schools.Mr Vikul said the situation was under control by 7am all hospitals had electricity again.
Vladimir Putin will discuss the conflict in Ukraine with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan during his upcoming visit to Turkey, the RIA news agency cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Friday.
Mr Peskov declined to say when exactly Mr Putin would make the visit. A Turkish official told Reuters this week that it would take place on Feb 12.
RIA also quoted Peskov as saying Turkey was coming under unprecedented pressure from the “Anglo-Saxons” – meaning the United States and Britain – over its ties with Russia, but that Ankara was preserving its independence.
Russia’s election commission has found irregularities in the list of signatures that anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin submitted to back his bid to run against Vladimir Putin in an upcoming election, the TASS news agency said, reported by Reuters.
Nobody expects Mr Nadezhdin, 60, to win if he is allowed to run given Mr Putin’s long dominance and control of the state. But Mr Nadezhdin had become the preferred candidate of some Russians who oppose Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Mr Nadezhdin needs the Central Election Commission to approve signatures he submitted on Wednesday from more than 100,000 supporters across Russia to get his name on the ballot for the March 15-17 election.
The electoral commission met on Friday and Nikolai Bulayev, its deputy chairman, said some voter lists submitted by candidates contained the names of dead people.
State news agency TASS said the results of the commission’s checks on the signatures submitted by Mr Nadezhdin and another candidate, Sergei Malinkovich, would be presented on Monday.
There was no immediate comment from Mr Nadezhdin.
Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, said the crash of the Il-76 military transport plane on Jan 24 was a result of Ukraine’s “cynical” actions, the RIA news agency reported.
Moscow has accused Kyiv of shooting down the plane, which was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war, using US-made Patriot surface-to-air missiles.
Kyiv has neither confirmed nor denied that it downed the plane, but has challenged details of Moscow’s account and called for an international investigation.
A Ukrainian intelligence official said that Kyiv has repeatedly asked Russia to hand over the bodies of prisoners of war who Moscow claimed were killed in the downing of a Russian military transport plane by Ukrainian forces.
Andrii Yusov, the spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence, said that Kyiv has urged Moscow to hand over the bodies of those who died in the Jan 24 crash, but that it has refused to do so. He reaffirmed Ukraine’s call for an international probe into the crash that would determine whether the cargo plane carried weapons or passengers along with the crew.
Russia and Ukraine have traded accusations over the crash, with Moscow accusing Kyiv of killing its own men and Ukraine dismissing Moscow’s assertions as “rampant Russian propaganda.”
Kyiv has neither confirmed nor denied that its forces downed the Il-76, and Russia’s claim that the crash killed Ukrainian POWs couldn’t be independently verified. Ukrainian officials said that Moscow didn’t ask for any specific stretch of airspace to be kept safe for a certain length of time, as it has for past prisoner exchanges.
Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, told the state RIA Novosti news agency on Friday that the Kremlin hadn’t received a Ukrainian request to hand over the bodies.
Mr Putin said that Russia wouldn’t just welcome but would “insist” on an international inquiry into the plane’s downing that he described as a “crime” by Ukraine.
France has confirmed that two French aid workers were killed in a Russian strike in Ukraine, which Ukrainian officials said took place near the southern city of Kherson.
“Russian barbarity has targeted civilians in Ukraine. Two French humanitarian workers paid for their commitment to the Ukrainians with their lives,” Stephane Sejourne, the foreign minister, wrote on X. “Russia will have to answer for its crimes.”
The International Court of Justice is ruling today on whether it has jurisdiction to hear a case filed by Ukraine in the days after Russia’s invasion accusing Moscow of breaching the genocide convention.
Kyiv claims that Russia breached the landmark 1948 convention by using trumped-up claims of genocide in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as a pretext for attacking Ukraine nearly two years ago. Ukraine also accuses Moscow of “planning acts of genocide”.
Moscow has rejected the allegations and argued last year that the court should throw out the case before even considering the merits of Kyiv’s claims.
At hearings in September, Gennady Kuzmin, the leader of Moscow’s legal team, called Ukraine’s case “hopelessly flawed and at odds with the longstanding jurisprudence of this court”.
“Russia’s defiance is also an attack on this court’s authority. Every missile that Russia fires at our cities, it fires in defiance of this court,” Anton Korynevych, the leader of Ukraine’s legal team, told the 16-judge panel.
For the court to have jurisdiction, Ukraine has to establish that it has a dispute with Russia over the genocide convention.
Ukraine has said that tens of thousands of people were without power after a barrage of two dozen Russian drones damaged energy infrastructure in the centre of the country.
The overnight attack echoed the systematic bombardments by Russian forces last winter that left millions in Ukraine without power, heating or water for extended stretches.
The air force said Moscow had launched 24 Iranian-designed drones at Ukraine, where a national energy provider said its facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk region were damaged, adding that defence systems had downed 11.
“This led to a power outage for more than 40,000 subscribers,” Sergiy Lysak, the head of the region, said on social media, adding that two mines were without power.
Dear Emmanuel, thank you for your personal efforts in making this decision a reality. Europe follows through on its promises. Europe demonstrates unity, leadership, and decisiveness. And this is exactly what is needed.
Viktor Orban said that he “went to the wall” for his country before agreeing to an EU deal on Thursday to extend new aid to Ukraine and that he averted the risk of losing EU funds earmarked for Budapest from the bloc’s joint coffers.
European Union leaders unanimously agreed on Thursday to extend €50 billion in new aid to Ukraine, sending a message to the United States where a divide has opened up over whether to keep backing Kyiv in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
The agreement came surprisingly quickly after weeks of resistance from Hungary, which has refused to send weapons to Ukraine since the war started and whose relations with Ukraine have been marred by tensions over the treatment of some 150,000 ethnic Hungarians living in western Ukraine.
In an interview on state radio on Friday, where he addresses his domestic audience, Mr Orban said the agreement reached on Thursday was a good one.
“I went to the wall,” Mr Orban said. “If this deal had not been reached and Hungary had continued to use its right of veto then 26 member states would have agreed to send the money to Ukraine … and would have taken away the funds earmarked for Hungary and sent that to Ukraine as well – why would that have been good? We are not sending weapons (to Ukraine), we get our money from Brussels, and we will contribute to the civil financing of Ukraine.”
Russia’s foreign ministry on Friday condemned a decision by Ecuador to hand over Russian-made military hardware to the United States for use in Ukraine as a “reckless” breach of contract, the RIA news agency reported.
The Ecuadorean government said last month it would take up an offer from Washington to swap what it called “Ukrainian and Russian scrap metal” for advanced US equipment worth $200 million.
The United States has said the arms it gets from Ecuador will be sent to Ukraine to help bolster its forces on the battlefield against Russia.
Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry’s spokesman, told RIA that Ecuador’s decision was made under pressure from external forces.
“Such a reckless decision was taken by the Ecuadorian side under serious pressure from outside interested parties,” she said. “Our partners are well aware of the provisions of the contracts, which include an obligation to use the supplied equipment for the stated purposes and not to transfer it to a third party without obtaining the relevant agreement of the Russian side.”
Authorities in Ecuador have said that Moscow had advised against the hardware swap, but that they believed they had the right to do it anyway.
Ukraine’s embattled army chief has said the country cannot match Russia’s manpower without taking “unpopular measures”, in a veiled swipe at Volodymyr Zelensky.
Gen Valery Zaluzhny called on his political masters to “seize the moment” as he alluded to Mr Zelensky’s reluctance to back his call for a military draft of up to 500,000 people.
The popular general, who is expected to be sacked within days according to numerous reports, went public with his views in an op-ed for the US network CNN on Thursday.
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The West must ensure that Russia is defeated in Ukraine or risk being attacked by dictatorships such as China, Grant Shapps has warned.
The Defence Secretary said “regimes who do not believe in democracy are watching” the war in Ukraine and could launch attacks on Western states if they think they have “run out of puff”.
In an interview with The Telegraph, he said Britain was “living in more and more dangerous times”, and revealed that Army recruitment had more than doubled last month amid growing fears of a confrontation with Moscow.
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