On New Year's Eve, Russia again flies a wave of airstrikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. These attacks would have no military use, explains Presidential Advisor Podoljak. In his opinion, the Kremlin has only one goal: "To kill as many civilians as possible."
With the massive airstrikes against a number of Ukrainian cities on New Year's Eve, Russia has switched to a new strategy, according to Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podoliak. "Russia has no more military targets," Podoliak tweeted. "It tries to kill as many civilians as possible and destroy as many civilian objects as possible. A war of killing."
The Russian military launched a wave of so-called kamikaze drones against several Ukrainian cities on New Year's Eve. About half an hour after midnight (local time), Russian shells hit two districts of Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Ukraine's air defenses said they shot down 45 drones. Head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in his New Year's language that the Ukrainians would continue to fight until victory against Russia.
Among other things, the drones were aimed at Kyiv and the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Russia also launched a massive attack on Ukraine on New Year's Eve. Reporters based in the Ukrainian capital say that several detonations shook Kyiv on Saturday afternoon. According to Mayor Klitschko, one man was killed and at least 20 others injured, including a journalist from Japan, in the attacks on Kyiv. A detonation tore a gaping hole in a four-star hotel in the capital.
Ukrainians still celebrated New Year's Eve. Because of the nightly curfew, they often held slumber parties. "Our enemies, the Russians, can destroy our calm, but not our spirit," said the 23-year-old filmmaker Yaroslav Mutenko. At 12:35 a.m. (local time, 11:35 p.m. CET) Klitschko reported renewed attacks in the online service Telegram: "Explosion heard in the capital. Air defense works."
According to the authorities, several other regions were also fired upon. Attacks were reported from the southern Mykolayiv region and from the Khmelnytskyi region in the west, among others. According to the authorities, six people were injured in Mykolaiv. According to Mayor Oleksandr Sjenkyevych, a fire broke out and several residential buildings were damaged.
At least seven people were injured in the Khmelnytskyi region, according to Governor Serhiy Gamalij. Parts of the city are without power because of the attacks. "War criminal Putin 'celebrates' New Year's Eve by killing people," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his New Year's address from the headquarters of Russia's southern military district, where he decorated soldiers, according to the Kremlin. Among them, according to Russian agency reports, was the commander of the Ukraine mission, General Sergei Surovikin. Television images showed Putin holding a glass of champagne with soldiers in military uniform.
Russia is "morally" and "historically" on the right side in the conflict with Ukraine, Putin said in his speech. Russia is fighting in Ukraine to "protect our people in our own historical territories, in the new territories of the Russian Federation," he added, referring to the Ukrainian regions declared annexed by Moscow.
