PARIS, Feb 3, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - France's President Emmanuel Macron confirmed on Friday that two French aid workers had been killed in a Russian strike in Ukraine, condemning the attack as "outrageous".

Ukrainian officials said the two men had died in a recent drone attack in southern Ukraine.

"Two French aid workers have been killed in Ukraine by a Russian strike. A cowardly and outrageous act," Macron said on X, formerly Twitter.

"My solidarity goes out to all the volunteers who are committed to helping people," he added.

Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne added: "Russia will have to answer for its crimes."

Ukrainian officials had said two French nationals were killed and three other foreigners wounded on Thursday in Beryslav, near the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson.

Ukrainian police said they had died as a result of a drone attack.

Beryslav, which sits on the Dnipro River close to the front line, has regularly been targeted by Russian drones and artillery.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky voiced gratitude for the Frenchmen's work in his war-torn country.

"Russian terror knows no boundaries or victims' nationalities.

"The brave French aid workers assisted people and we will always be grateful for their humanity.

"My condolences go out to their loved ones," Zelensky wrote on social media.

In Paris, the prosecutors' anti-terrorist office announced on Friday that it had opened a war crimes investigation, specifically for an attack on an aid worker, non-combatants under international law.