The Ukrainian Air Force reported Russian combat drones flying over the country with multiple changes of direction. Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry announced early on Saturday that the military had shot down 32 Ukrainian drones over the border regions of Bryansk, Oryol and Kursk, as well as over the Moscow region.
30 dead, 160 injured
The United Nations Security Council in New York dealt with the momentous Russian air strike on all parts of Ukraine the night before on Friday evening (local time). Ukraine had requested the emergency meeting. Around 30 people were killed and around 160 were injured in the attacks on Friday night. According to official information from Kiev, Russia used almost 160 rockets, cruise missiles and drones of various types.
The Ukrainian General Staff also reported further attacks by Russian troops on the ground in the east and south of the country. President Volodymyr Zelensky paid an unannounced visit on Friday to a focal point of the fighting, the city of Avdiivka, which is surrounded on three sides. Ukraine has been fending off a large-scale Russian invasion for more than 22 months.
Unprecedented bombardment
After the unprecedented bombardment of Ukraine on Friday night, Russia blamed Kiev for the attacks. The real problem is that Ukraine has set up its air defense systems in residential areas, said Russian UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya on Friday (local time) at the emergency meeting of the World Security Council in New York. “If the Ukrainian air defense systems had not been deployed, there would have been no civilian casualties at all,” he continued.
Biden is calling for more funding
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden once again urged Congress to approve further funding for Kiev. “Overnight, Russia launched its largest airstrike on Ukraine since the beginning of this war,” it said in a written statement. “There is far more at stake in this fight than just Ukraine,” warned Biden. “It affects the entire NATO alliance, the security of Europe and the future of transatlantic relations.”
With its military assistance, the USA had helped to save many lives, he emphasized. “But 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. Congress must act, and without further delay.” US aid expired at the end of the year. The approval of new funding is stuck in the dispute between Republicans and Democrats in the US Congress.
Zelenskyj on a visit to the front
“Ukraine is defending its own people here. And defending our entire country,” said Zelensky during his visit to the front in Avdiivka in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. A video showed him at the city entrance decorated with Ukrainian flags. The only way there is a road that can be taken under fire by Russia.
Image: (APA/AFP/UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SER/HANDOUT)
“Today in Avdiivka, together with my team, I wished the soldiers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,” said Zelensky. “We owe them a huge debt of gratitude.” According to the General Staff, Ukrainian troops repelled three Russian attacks in Avdiivka on Friday and ten more in the immediate area.
Ukrainian drones shot down
Overall, the evening report for Friday recorded a comparatively low number of 31 battles. Another focus was the Ukrainian bridgehead on the southern bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region to the south. There, Russian troops unsuccessfully tried nine times to drive the Ukrainians from their positions. The military’s information could not be independently verified.
Anti-aircraft defenses were in action over the Russian Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine on Saturday night, as Governor Alexander Bogomas announced. According to him, five incoming Ukrainian drones were shot down. The Defense Ministry in Moscow said that 13 projectiles from Ukrainian multiple rocket launchers had also been fired. According to authorities, one man was killed and four people were injured in the shelling of the Russian city of Belgorod.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, clean-up work continues after the heavy Russian bombardment on Friday night. On the fronts in the east and south, the Ukrainian military continues to expect Russian attacks on the 675th day of the war.
