Moscow and kyiv have seen an escalation of violence in recent days with an unprecedented attack which left 24 dead on Saturday in Belgorod, Russia, following a missile attack against Ukraine on Friday, described as “massive” by Kiev, and which caused around forty deaths. The Ukrainian capital is observing a day of mourning this Monday, January 1, for the 19 victims of this attack in the city, the municipality said.
Information to remember
⇒ Zelensky vowed to “ravage” Russian forces in Ukraine
⇒ The Ukrainian president assured that his country would soon have a million drones and F-16 planes
⇒ Several Ukrainian cities were hit during the night from Sunday to Monday
Several bombings for the new year
Denis Pushilin, head of the Donetsk administration appointed by Moscow, reported on Telegram “13 injured and four dead” after strikes on the night of Sunday to Monday in the eastern Ukrainian city, under Russian control. He had reported earlier in the evening “massive bombings” in several districts of Donetsk, which left seven injured.
In southern Ukraine, Odessa Governor Oleg Kiper reported that “one person died as a result of an enemy attack” and reported three wounded, in messages on Telegram. In the west of the country, the governor of the Lviv region Maksym Kozytskyi indicated that anti-aircraft defense systems had shot down drones coming from Russia in the early hours of Monday.
Zelensky vowed to “ravage” Russian forces in Ukraine
During his New Year’s speech on Sunday, Volodymyr Zelensky promised to “ravage” the Russian forces who invaded his country, at the end of a year marked by the failure of Ukraine’s summer counter-offensive and the almost total freezing of the front line. Ukraine will have at least “a million” additional drones in its arsenal next year, the Ukrainian president added, as well as F-16 fighter jets provided by its Western partners.
His Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin assured him during his New Year’s greetings that his country would “never back down”. After a very martial speech last year, he proclaimed on Sunday that the year 2024 would be that of “family”. Without explicitly mentioning Ukraine, he paid tribute to the soldiers, “heroes”, assuring them of the “support of the entire nation”.