Russian air attacks continue in Ukraine. A new wave of strikes was recorded this Friday, December 29 in the morning on several cities, including kyiv. Proof that the country needs “more help” from the international community, said Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff.
Information to remember
⇒ A wave of Russian strikes in Ukraine leaves at least nine dead and dozens injured, according to kyiv
⇒ “The world must see that we need more help and means to stop this terror,” said the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff
⇒ Russian losses are “huge” in Ukraine, says German general
kyiv calls for “more help and means to stop this terror”
The wave of Russian strikes launched this Friday on several cities in Ukraine shows that the country needs “more help” from the international community, said Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff.
“We are doing everything possible to strengthen our air shield. But the world must see that we need more help and means to stop this terror,” he wrote on the social network Telegram. The United States released its last tranche of aid available for kyiv on Wednesday without a new vote in Congress.
Vast Russian air attack on several Ukrainian cities
Russia launched a large series of strikes this Friday morning on several cities across the whole of Ukraine, targeting in particular the capital Kiev as well as the towns of Kharkiv (north-east), Lviv (west) and Odessa (south). At least nine people were killed, and dozens of others injured, according to authorities.
Explosions were heard Friday morning in kyiv, where “anti-aircraft defense is actively operating” announced its mayor Vitali Klitschko, and a generalized air alert for the entire country was activated around 5 a.m. The mayor of kyiv announced that seven people were “currently hospitalized in the capital”.
The city of Kharkiv suffered at least ten strikes in two waves. “One person was killed following attacks by the occupier on Kharkiv. Eight people were injured,” announced the governor of the region, Oleg Sinegoubov.
In Odessa, a building was damaged following a strike overnight but the resulting fire was quickly brought under control, said Mayor Gennady Trukhanov. In Lviv, a city more rarely targeted, his counterpart Andriy Sadovyi spoke of “two strikes” in an attack carried out in total by “ten Shaheds” in the region. The official spoke of “a fire in a crucial installation”, without providing further details.
Authorities also reported explosions in the Dnipro region. According to the military, “guided missiles” were fired by Russian Tu95MS bombers. On Thursday, Russian strikes left three dead and nine injured in two villages in the Zaporizhia region, in southern Ukraine, according to local authorities. The attacks come after Russia confirmed on Tuesday that one of its ships had been damaged in an attack on kyiv in annexed Crimea.
Russian losses ‘huge’ in Ukraine, German general says
Russia is suffering “enormous” losses in men and equipment in its war in Ukraine and its army will emerge “weakened” from the conflict, a senior German army official said in an interview published this Friday. “You know that, according to Western intelligence figures, 300,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or so seriously injured that they can no longer be mobilized in the war,” the German daily said. South German Zeitung General Christian Freuding, who oversees support for kyiv within the Bundeswehr.
The general, who is also one of the main advisers to German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, confirmed an assessment by American intelligence services which had leaked on December 12, and according to which 315,000 Russian soldiers were injured or killed since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. “The Russian losses in men and equipment are enormous,” judged the German general. Concerning equipment, “we think that they (the Russians, Editor’s note) lost a number of tanks and armored vehicles numbering in the thousands and at the top of the range”, he added.
At the same time, “the Russians still manage to recruit personnel, among other things by bringing in detainees” to the front, said General Freuding, “and we are of course observing massive investments in the arms industry “. The German general recognized that Russia demonstrated a “capacity of resistance” greater than what Western countries assessed at the start of the war.