Cannot Access Privacy Settings on iPhone 6s iOS 11.2.1

Since some time, possibly shortly after latest iOS upgrade, my Settings app on iPhone 6s running iOS 11.2.1 locks anytime I am trying to use the Privacy Settings. The first symptom of a problem was when number of my applications did not open. Mostly maps, Waze, Google Maps, Apple Maps, Bing Maps etc. and other apps just do not open. Some are asking to have location services enabled. To enable location services you need to go to Privacy settings, and the attempt to open the Privacy settings fails with Settings hanged... Is there any way out of this cycle, please?