Ukraine intercepted nine Russian drones and nine missiles launched in an overnight air attack, Reuters reports, citing a Ukrainian air force statement released on Sunday. The statement said that Russia had launched 11 drone and 16 missile attacks overnight, without mentioning the intended targets. Russia has ramped up its air strike operations on Ukrainian energy facilities, leaving five out of six of plants belonging to Ukraine’s largest private energy firm DTEK damaged or destroyed.

DTEK has lost 80% of its generating capacity due to the Russian attacks. DTEK's equipment losses are estimated at USD 300 mn with repairs set to take up to 18 months, Executive Director Dmytro Sakharuk said. DTEK has already invested some USD 110 mn in repairing 10 blocks damaged by Russian attacks last year. Two-thirds of these have been destroyed again.

Trade barriers between the UK and Canada are likely to expand after the two countries failed to reach an agreement on extending a tariff-free provision that is set to expire today, which allowed the UK to sell productions containing EU components, Bloomberg reports. The breakdown in negotiations was reportedly due to Canada’s insistence that the UK loosen its food safety regulations, which for the UK, was not up for negotiation, several sources familiar with the subject told Bloomberg. The UK’s car manufacturing sector, with exports totalling around GDP 700 mn to Canada annually, will face the brunt of the impact, witnessing the enforcement of a 6.1% levy per vehicle.

Going forward: The UK’s failure to secure an extension with Canada, a close ally, is emblematic of the country’s struggles to boost its tariff-free trade with non-EU markets as a part of the government’s post-Brexit strategy, the newswire explains. The UK has only inked new free-trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand, the terms of which have received backlash from farmers and members of parliament.

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