At 14.47 at the latest, the Reuters news agency reports new explosions in the Kiev region.
A little later, the mayor of Kiev Vitaly Klitschko writes that one person died after the attacks on the Ukrainian capital. 20 are injured, 14 hospitalized.
– Six were treated by a doctor on the spot, he writes.
Klitschko says 30 percent of the city is without electricity, due to the emergency shutdown. On Saturday, several regions chose to shut off their electricity supplies, as a precautionary measure in case of impact on infrastructure.
– There is water and heat in Kiev, writes Klitschko.
Witnesses said on Saturday they heard about ten explosions in Kiev.
Air alerts in all regions
The air defense systems in Kiev were activated most of the day. It is not known whether the explosions were due to rockets that fell or were shot down.
The Kyiv Independent previously reported that flight warnings went off in all regions except the occupied Luhansk and Crimea regions. In several regions, electricity went out after the attacks.
HOTEL: Hit a hotel in Kiev. Photo: AP/Efrem Lukatsky/NTB
sea View
According to reports on Twitter, there were at least three waves of rocket attacks on New Year’s Eve.
– Russian “gifts” are now flying over the Kiev region. We are not afraid of it, writes Ukraine Front Lines on Twitter.
Warns of attacks
A warning against Russian missile attacks has been issued in connection with New Year celebrations. The British Ministry of Defense warned against this in its daily intelligence update on Saturday.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly asked all Ukrainians this Christmas to be aware of the danger of an attack and to listen to flak sirens.
– Since October, Russia has maintained a pattern of carrying out intense waves of attacks every seven to ten days, writes the British Ministry of Defense in its intelligence update on New Year’s Eve.
Experts have stressed that Russia carries out such waves of attacks to target the civilian population. They attack with many missiles simultaneously to overload Ukraine’s air defenses, according to experts. The British write the same.
– But there is a realistic possibility that Russia will break this pattern and attack again in the coming days to undermine the morale of Ukrainians during the New Year celebrations, write the British.
