Russia attacked Ukraine this Friday with almost 160 missiles and dronesin the most massive wave of attacks since the start of the war between both countries in February 2022, and which left at least 26 civilians killed and 130 injured as well as numerous material damages throughout the country.
The bombings
Around 122 missiles and 36 drones were launched in the early morning, followed by another wave of missiles after noon. 87 missiles and 27 drones were shot down by air defenses, reported the Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valeri Zaluzhni. The rest managed to hit several locations, which It caused the death of 26 civilians and 130 wounded, as well as numerous material damages. Thus, a mother and child hospital and a shopping center in Dnipro, an apartment building in Odessa and a metro station in the capital of Kiev were damaged, along with several schools in Lviv and homes in numerous cities.
Many Ukrainians spent the night unable to sleep, hiding in bomb shelters or in bathrooms and hallways inside their homes. “What scared me the most today was a message from a colleague saying that the maternity hospital in Dnipro, where she gave birth to her children, caught fire,” she told the news agency. EFE Olena, 30, from kyiv, where she barely managed to sleep two hours. “That is how (Vladimir) Putin “Does it show that he is willing to negotiate?” he asked, alluding to news that appeared in recent hours in Western media about an alleged willingness of the Russian president to engage in peace talks in Ukraine.
“Right now, families and emergency services are trying to pull people out of the rubble caused by the destruction. For the Ukrainian people, it is another unacceptable example of the horrible reality they face, which made 2023 another year of enormous suffering,” said the UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, in a statement..
Global reviews
“Russia continues the pattern of ignoring its obligations under International Humanitarian Law. Both indiscriminate attacks and attacks intentionally directed against civilians or civilian objects are strictly prohibited,” added the coordinator, repudiating the attack.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, also criticized the wave of missiles. “I am deeply shocked by the attacks,” the Austrian said in a statement. “I once again call on the Russian Federation to end its attacks on Ukraine, and to strictly respect international rules regarding war,” he said.
In a statement, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, considered the recent Russian airstrikes a stark reminder that Putin’s purpose in this war has not changed. “He seeks to annihilate Ukraine and subjugate its people. He must be stopped,” he stressed.
Ukraine managed to stop a large part of the Russian missiles and drones thanks to the air defense systems delivered in the last year by the US and other Western countries. However, Biden warned that his country will not be able to continue sending this type of assistance to Ukraine unless the US Congress acts urgently. next year and approve a new package of more than $60 billion in military aid.
More means of defense
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the Russians used their entire arsenal in the wave of attacks: Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, Kh-22 ballistic missiles, as well as Kh-101, Kh-55 and Kh-555 cruise missiles. “We haven’t seen so much red on our screens in a long time,” acknowledged Air Force spokesman Yuri Ignat.
“We do everything we can to reinforce our air shield, but the world must see that we need more help and means to stop this terror,” Andrii Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, stressed in a message broadcast on Telegram.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov stated that since the Russian State has large reserves of missiles, it has the capacity to continue launching similar attacks. and is willing to make use of that capacity. He also assured that kyiv will continue to work with allied countries to receive a sufficient amount of air defense equipment.
In this sense, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, indicated in a statement that more military and financial assistance is necessary on a continuous and long-term basis. “Only greater firepower can silence Russian terror,” he wrote.
Russian version
For its part, The Russian Ministry of Defense reported in a statement that it had launched fifty missile and drone attacks in Ukraine over the last week, one of them massive.. “Between December 23 and 29, the Russian Armed Forces launched 50 group attacks and one massive attack with precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against facilities of the military-industrial complex, infrastructure of military airfields, arsenals, as well as places of storage of artillery ammunition in Ukraine,” according to the daily war report.
The note specifies that the locations of units of the Ukrainian armed forces, nationalist formations and foreign mercenaries were also attacked. In addition, the Defense Ministry reported that there was an improvement in the positions of the Russian Army on the eastern front of Kupiansk, where its forces would have repelled around 27 enemy attacks over the course of the week.
The offensive launched in the last few hours on Ukrainian territory took place three days after Moscow acknowledged that the Novocherkassk ship was damaged due to a Ukrainian bombardment in Feodosia, on the annexed Crimean peninsula. This week was also marked by the announcement by the Ukrainian army of a retreat to the suburbs of Marinkaa town in the east of the country that Russia claims to have conquered.
Zelensky’s word
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski visited the Avdikva front, in the east of the country, one of the hottest spots in the fighting at the moment. “I personally thanked the fighters. We reviewed the defensive situation and the key needs of our troops with the commander,” Zelensky wrote on his X social network account. “Our entire country resists thanks to those warriors. To all those who “Despite all the difficulties, they defend our country. To all those who offer combat results every day,” he stated.
In a video apparently recorded by himself, in front of the now famous entrance sign to Avdivka, Zelensky pointed out that in that town – the main objective of the ongoing Russian offensive – the entire country is defended and people are fighting for life. Later he is seen greeting soldiers and officers in an underground fortification.
Regarding the massive missile attack, in another publication The president assured: “We will respond to terrorist attacks. And we will continue fighting for the security of our entire country, of each city and each citizen. Russian terror must lose and will lose.”
