Moscow reported at least 14 dead and more than 100 injured in Ukrainian attacks on the border regions of Belgorod and Bryansk.
Across the country, “almost 120 towns and villages were affected,” Zelensky said of Friday’s Russian attacks. “Work to eliminate the consequences of yesterday’s Russian attack is still ongoing.” According to the city administration, 16 people died in the attacks in the capital Kiev alone. Bodies were still being recovered from the rubble on Saturday. Mayor Vitali Klitschko declared January 1st a day of mourning.
Video: Fierce Russian air strikes on Ukraine
One of the most violent waves of attacks
According to Ukrainian information, schools, a maternity clinic, shopping centers and residential buildings were hit on Friday in one of the most violent waves of Russian attacks on Ukraine since the beginning of the war. The Russian army said in its daily situation report that it carried out “50 group attacks and one massive attack” between December 23 and 29. “All targets” were hit.
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According to Ukrainian authorities, the attacks with rockets, drones and cruise missiles were directed once morest at least six regions of the country, including Kharkiv in the northeast, Lviv in the west, Dnipro in the southeast and Odessa in the south. Important infrastructure as well as military and civilian industrial facilities were also hit, as the General Staff announced. Accordingly, Russia used 158 drones and missiles. 88 missiles and 27 drones were destroyed.
“Record number” of rockets
It was a “record number” of rockets, said Air Force spokesman Yuri Ignat. Apart from the first days of the war in February 2022, these were the “most massive attacks” on Ukraine to date. Russia attempted to overwhelm air defenses over major Ukrainian cities by launching a wave of Shahed combat drones, followed by missiles.
Bild: YURIY DYACHYSHYN (AFP)
Russian authorities reported several Ukrainian attacks on Russian border regions on Saturday. According to Moscow, 14 people were killed and 108 others injured in a Ukrainian attack on the Russian city of Belgorod on Saturday.
Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod
“Twelve adults and two children were killed” in the Ukrainian bombing raids in Belgorod, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said in the Telegram online service. Among the 108 injured, 15 were children. Authorities released images of burning cars and buildings with broken windows.
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Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin was “informed regarding the attack by the Ukrainian armed forces on residential areas in Belgorod,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the TASS news agency. The Russian city is around 30 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. A child was also killed by Ukrainian shelling in the Bryansk border region, as the local governor Alexander Bogomas announced in online services.
Kremlin threatens “punishment”
The Russian Defense Ministry previously said air defenses had fired a total of 13 missiles over the region. In a separate statement, the ministry said 32 drones were intercepted and destroyed in the Bryansk and Kursk border regions, as well as the Moscow capital region and the Oryol region. As a result, the Kremlin threatened “punishment.” Moscow said the attack on the city of Belgorod would not go unpunished.
Russia also called for a special session of the UN Security Council. “The terrorist attack on Belgorod will be the subject of proceedings in the UN Security Council,” said Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Saturday. At the same time, she accused the European Union of complicity in the attack. Great Britain also shares responsibility. “Behind the terrorist attack is Great Britain, which, in coordination with the USA, is inciting the Kiev regime to take terrorist actions because it has recognized that the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian armed forces has failed,” Zakharova was further quoted by the state agency TASS.
US President Joe Biden, meanwhile, appealed to Congress to quickly approve further aid to Ukraine in the new year. “Unless Congress acts urgently in the new year, we will be unable to continue delivering the weapons and vital air defense systems Ukraine needs to protect its people,” Biden said. Congress must “act and do so without further delay.”
