Moscow ends the year with the largest air attack against Ukraine since the beginning of the war
Moscow is trying to turn the page on 2023 with the largest air attack against Ukraine since the beginning of the war, with a barrage of 158 drones and missiles during the night, targeting vital infrastructure and industrial and military facilities, but its border areas were also subjected to a missile attack, which it said destroyed 3 “American HARM” aircraft above Territories of the Belgorod region.
Firefighters work at the site of a warehouse that was severely damaged during a Russian missile strike amid the Russian attack on Kiev (Reuters)
The Russian army announced on Friday that it had hit all of its targets in dozens of attacks it launched on Ukraine from December 23 to 29. The strikes tonight came days after Ukraine targeted a Russian warship in the port of Feodosia on the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed.
Missiles being launched from a platform in the Belgorod region of Russia (AFP)
Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valery Zalughny, said that Russian forces carried out the “largest air attack” against Ukraine after midnight on Thursday/Friday since the beginning of the war about two years ago. Zalogny said that Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 70 percent of the attacks.
The Ukrainian authorities issued warning sirens of air strikes across the country, as Kharkiv (northeast) and Lviv (west) were hit, according to what the mayors of the two cities and the capital, Kiev, announced.
Damage was recorded in Kharkiv, Lviv and Dnipro. In Kharkiv, the city’s mayor, Igor Terekhov, reported a “massive attack” with “at least 6 explosions being heard,” while in Lviv, his counterpart, Andrei Sadovyi, spoke of “two strikes.” The media reported explosions in Odessa, Khmelnytskyi and Zaporizhya.
The mayor of Kiev said that a series of explosions were heard early in the Ukrainian capital. Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram application: “More explosions in the capital.” The air defense is working intensively,” according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
A photo of the site of a warehouse that was severely damaged during a Russian missile strike amid the Russian attack on Ukraine in Kiev (Reuters)
The military administration of the capital, Kiev, said that 10 were trapped under the rubble of a warehouse damaged by falling debris. A local governor said that damage was caused to a maternity hospital in the city of Dnipro, but there were no reports of injuries there.
Agence France-Presse reporters reported hearing strong explosions in the early hours of Friday. In the Boudil area, north of the capital, fire broke out in a warehouse with an area of about 3,000 square metres, while firefighters were busy extinguishing the flames. Dozens of people are believed to be trapped inside, according to the head of the capital’s military administration, Sergei Popko. A metro station used as an air raid shelter was damaged.
“Practically everything fell, except for the Kalibr cruise missiles,” Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Ahant described to Ukrainian television on Friday.
Russia used weapons, including hypersonic “Kingal” missiles, “S-300” ballistic missiles, various “cruise” missiles, and long-range Iranian-made missiles. Ehant added that about 18 strategic bombers were sent, and said: “This large number of enemy red dots have not appeared on our surveillance screens for a long time.”
Ukrainian soldiers cry for a colleague during his funeral in Kiev in mid-December (AP)
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukrainian Foreign Minister, said: “Today millions of Ukrainians woke up to the sound of loud explosions. “I wish the world could hear the sounds of explosions in Ukraine.” He called on his country’s allies to intensify their support efforts. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that the Russian missile attack, which is one of the largest attacks since the beginning of the comprehensive invasion, proves that there is no room to talk about a truce with Moscow. The ministry said in a statement: “Russia is not considering any other scenarios other than the complete destruction of Ukraine.”
The United Nations Humanitarian Envoy to Ukraine, Denise Brown, condemned the recent attacks and said: “For the Ukrainian people, this is another unacceptable example of the horrific reality they face, which has made 2023 another year of enormous suffering.” France also condemned “with the strongest degree of terror strategy,” while British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak believed that these strikes prove that President Vladimir Putin “will not back down from anything.” European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell denounced the “cowardly” Russian strikes.
Ukrainian special operations forces on a night mission in the Kherson region (AP)
The attacks occurred in several waves and from different directions, while Russia deployed strategic missile launchers, targeting a number of Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kiev, using an “unprecedented number of missiles,” which led to the killing of at least 16 people and the wounding of 97 others, according to the authorities. Ukrainian.
Poland, a member of NATO, announced on Friday that an unidentified object had entered its airspace from Ukraine, while the Polish Air Force indicated that the incident may be linked to the massive Russian air attack on Ukraine.
Ukrainian soldiers walk on the shore of the Dnipro River after leaving a boat on the front line near Kherson – Ukraine, Sunday, October 15, 2023 (AP)
Colonel Yatsik Goryszewski, spokesman for the Armed Forces Operations Command, told TVN24 news station, “The object arrived from the Ukrainian border.” He added: “There was intense bombing on Ukrainian territory at night, so the incident may be related to that.” He pointed out that the incident occurred near the border city of Zamosc. The Operations Command said that the “unidentified object” was tracked with radar “from the moment it crossed the border to the point where the signal disappeared.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia fired about 110 missiles at Ukraine last night. “Today, Russia has used almost every type of weapon in its arsenal,” he wrote on social media. About 110 missiles were launched against Ukraine, and most of them were shot down. He added that a number of people were killed or wounded in the attacks that struck cities throughout Ukraine, but he did not provide specific details. Zelensky said that the maternity ward, educational facilities, a shopping center and a number of multi-storey residential buildings were among the sites that were bombed.
Ukrainian soldiers with an American-made M777 howitzer in eastern Ukraine (AP)
“This is the largest missile attack in general,” Air Force spokesman Yuri Ehant told Agence France-Presse, adding that the count excludes the first days of the war that broke out in February last year, and witnessed “continuous and uninterrupted” strikes.
The massive year-end air offensive comes amid uncertainty surrounding the scope and strength of Western financial and military support for Ukraine in the future as the war with Russia continues for nearly two years.
Ukrainian Presidential Assistant Andriy Yermak announced on Telegram: “We are doing everything we can to strengthen our air defense. But the world must see that we need more support and strength to stop this terrorism.” On Wednesday, Washington released the latest package of military aid approved by Congress for Kiev.
Following the strikes, US Ambassador to Kiev Bridget Brink wrote on the X website: “Ukraine needs funding now to continue the struggle to be freed from this horror in 2024.”
A senior German army official confirmed, in an interview published on Friday, that Russia had suffered “heavy” losses in men and equipment in its war in Ukraine, adding that its army would emerge “weaker” from the conflict. General Christian Froeding, who supervises support for Kiev within the German army, told the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung: “You know, according to figures from Western intelligence services, that 300,000 Russian soldiers were killed or seriously injured, to the point that they could no longer participate in the war.” ».
The general, who is also one of the main advisors to German Defense Minister Boris Pistoris, confirmed a US intelligence assessment leaked on December 12, according to which 315,000 Russian soldiers had been injured or killed since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. At the same time, he believed that Russia had demonstrated “the ability to “The resistance” is greater than what the Western countries estimated at the beginning of the war. “We may not have seen, or did not want to see, that they were able to continue getting supplies from allies,” he said.
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2023-12-30 16:28:21
