20 cruise missiles fired here… 1 dead, 30 injured
Putin affirms “moral and historical legitimacy on our side” in New Year’s speech
On the last day of 2022, Russia carried out air strikes in various parts of Ukraine, including the capital Kiev, killing at least one person and wounding about 30.
According to Reuters and AFP news agencies, on the afternoon of the 31st (local time), anti-aircraft alarms were sounded throughout Ukraine and several areas were attacked by missiles and rockets.
Vitaly Klitschko, mayor of Chiuu, said on Telegram that one person was killed and at least 20 others injured in a Russian airstrike on Kiu.
Fourteen of the injured were taken to hospital and one of them is said to be in critical condition.
One of the injured who was taken to hospital was identified as a Japanese journalist.
School buildings and other buildings were damaged by airstrikes in two districts of Kieu, Solomiansky and Pechersk.
The kindergarten was also damaged, but luckily there were no casualties here.
A corner of a four-star hotel in the center of Kieu was badly damaged, while residential buildings in other areas were also damaged.
In Kieu, about 30% of households lost electricity due to emergency power outages.
However, with the normal operation of critical infrastructure, there have been no disruptions in the supply of water and heating.
Kieu Governor Oleksi Kuleva said the local air defense network is responding to the missiles.
The airstrikes also hit Ukraine’s Mykolaizh and Zaporizhzhya provinces in the south, Vinnytsa and Khmelnytsky in the west and Zhitomir in the central region, Ukrainian authorities said the same day.
In Khmelnytsky, at least seven people were injured in a drone strike, state authorities said.
At least six people were injured, Governor Vitaly Kim Mykolaiu said in a television interview.
“Looking at the recent attacks, the Russians are not just targeting critical infrastructure, they are attacking residential areas, hotels, garages and streets,” he said in a separate Telegram post.
“Russia launched about 20 cruise missiles, but our air defense intercepted 12 of them, including six above Kiiu,” Ukrainian military commander Valery Zaluznyi said on social media.
“The terrorist state will not be forgiven,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video on social media.
“It is an inhumane act, and inhumanity will be defeated,” he said. “You and I know it.
Terrorists cannot change that.”
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated in his New Year’s speech broadcast that day that the West is using Ukraine to destroy Russia and that Russia is struggling to preserve its independence.
“Moral and historical legitimacy is on our side,” Putin said, not in the Kremlin as in previous years, but against the backdrop of the soldiers.
Earlier, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also praised the heroic deeds of fallen soldiers and soldiers in a New Year’s video speech, insisting that “victory is inevitable.”
/yunhap news
