Traders have no plans to suspend grain shipments from Ukraine's Black Sea ports in Odessa due to the latest Russian attack on the region's energy system, Agriculture Minister Mykola Solky said on Sunday.

"There are problems, but none of the traders are talking about any suspension of shipments. Ports use alternative energy sources," Solsky told Reuters in a phone call.

More than 1.5 million people in the southern Odessa region were without power after Russian drone strikes on the electricity generating system, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address late on Saturday.

The region's energy authority warned that repairs after the Friday strikes would take weeks, perhaps up to three months.

"After the night strike by Iranian drones, Odessa and other cities and villages of the region are in darkness," Zelenskyy said.

"As of now, more than one and a half million people in Odessa region are without electricity."

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential administration, said only critical infrastructure including hospitals and maternity wards had access to electricity.

"The situation remains difficult, but is under control," Tymoshenko said.

The Black Sea port was a favorite holiday destination for many Ukrainians and Russians before President Vladimir Putin sent troops to pro-Western Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Maksym Marchenko, the governor of the region, said Russia had attacked the city with "kamikaze drones" overnight.

"As a result of the strike, there is no electricity in almost all districts and communities of our region," he said.

Two drones were shot down by Ukrainian air defense units, Marchenko added.

On Friday, Kyiv said southern regions of the war-scarred country including Odessa were suffering the worst electricity outages days after the latest bout of systematic Russian assaults on the Ukrainian energy grid.

Russia fired dozens of cruise missiles at key infrastructure in Ukraine on Monday, piling pressure on the country's already ailing grid after repeated attacks.

Since October, Moscow has been targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure with large waves of missile and drone strikes.

On Thursday, Putin vowed to keep battering Ukraine's energy grid despite an outcry against the attacks that have plunged millions into cold and darkness.

Ukraine is among the world's largest producers and exporters of corn and wheat but its exports have fallen significantly due to the Russian invasion.

After an almost six-month blockade caused by the invasion, three Ukrainian Black Sea ports in the Odessa region were unblocked at the end of July under a deal between Moscow and Kyiv that was brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye.

Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was expected to speak to Russian and Ukrainian leaders over the phone on Sunday.

"We ship grain from there (Ukraine) to all over the world. Tomorrow I will talk with Mr. Putin and then with Mr. Zelenskyy and discuss what else can we do," Erdoğan said at an event in the northern Turkish province of Samsun on Saturday.

On July 22, Türkiye, the U.N., Russia and Ukraine signed the agreement in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which had been paused in February due to Russia's war on Ukraine.

Days ahead of its scheduled expiration on Nov. 19, the deal was extended for another 120 days.

Grain exports from Ukraine in the first eight days of December fell 47.6% from a year earlier to 1.09 million tons, Agriculture Ministry data showed.