KYIV/DONETSK PROVINCE FRONT LINE, UkraineΜύ–ΜύWaves ofΜύΈι³ά²υ²υΎ±²ΉnΜύ»ε°ω΄Η²Τ±πs targetedΜύ³¦°ωΎ±³ΩΎ±³¦²Ή±τΜύΎ±²Τ΄Ϊ°ω²Ή²υ³Ω°ω³ά³¦³Ω³ά°ω±πΜύin Ukraine’s capital ofΜύ°²βΎ±±ΉΜύ²Ή²Τ»εΜύsurrounding areas on Monday,Μύ΄Η΄Ϊ΄ΪΎ±³¦Ύ±²Ή±τ²υΜύsaid, asΜύΈι³ά²υ²υΎ±²ΉΒ extendedΜύΎ±³Ω²υΜύconstant bombardment into the second day of 2023.
Ukrainians cheered from balconies as their air defenses blastedΜύΈι³ά²υ²υΎ±²Ήn missilesΜύ²Ή²Τ»εΜύ»ε°ω΄Η²Τ±πs out of the sky in the first hours of the New Year, whichΜύΈι³ά²υ²υΎ±²ΉΒ ushered in by attacking civilianΜύ³Ω²Ή°ω²΅±π³Ω²υΜύacross Ukraine.
“Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!” some shouted as air raid sirens wailed.
Ukrainian forces shot down 45 Iranian-made ShahedΜύ»ε°ω΄Η²Τ±πs fired byΜύΈι³ά²υ²υΎ±²ΉΒ on the first night of the year,Β Β said on Sunday, praising Ukrainians for showing gratitude to the troopsΒ ²Ή²Τ»εΜύone another.
“Drones, missiles, everything else will not help them,” he said of theΜύΈι³ά²υ²υΎ±²Ήns. “Because we st²Ή²Τ»εΜύunited. They are united only by fear.”
In a sternΒ signaled no let-up in his assault on Ukraine, however.
By 3 a.m. (0100 GMT), Ukraine’s air defense systems destroyed 20 air objects aboveΜύ°²βΎ±±Ή,ΜύΎ±³Ω²υΜύmilitary administration said.
“It is loud in theΜύ°ω±π²΅Ύ±΄Η²ΤΒ ²Ή²Τ»εΜύin the capital: nightΜύ»ε°ω΄Η²Τ±πΒ attacks,”Μύ°²βΎ±±ΉΜύGovernor Oleksiy Kuleba said.
“Russians launched several waves of ShahedΜύ»ε°ω΄Η²Τ±πs. TargetingΜύ³¦°ωΎ±³ΩΎ±³¦²Ή±τΜύΎ±²Τ΄Ϊ°ω²Ή²υ³Ω°ω³ά³¦³Ω³ά°ω±πΜύfacilities. Air defense is at work,” he said on the Telegram messaging app.
Earlier, one person was wounded by debris from aΜύ»ε°ω΄Η²Τ±πΒ destroyed overΜύ°²βΎ±±ΉΜύthat hit a roadΒ ²Ή²Τ»εΜύdamaged a building in a northeastern district of the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
A 19-year-old man was taken to hospital in the mainly residential Desnianskiy district, on the left bank of the Dnipro River, Klitschko said on the Telegram app.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the information.
TheΜύ°ω±π²΅Ύ±΄Η²Τal military comm²Ή²Τ»εΜύin Ukraine’s east said air defense systems destroyed nine of the Iranian-madeΜύ»ε°ω΄Η²Τ±πs over the DnipropetrovskΒ ²Ή²Τ»εΜύZaporizhzhiaΜύ°ω±π²΅Ύ±΄Η²Τs by the early hours of Monday.
NEW YEAR IN THE TRENCHES
On Twitter, the US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, said, “Έι³ά²υ²υΎ±²ΉΜύcoldlyΒ ²Ή²Τ»εΜύcowardly attacked Ukraine in the early hours of the New Year. But Putin still does not seem to underst²Ή²Τ»εΜύthat Ukrainians are made of iron.”
Troops toasted the New Year on the front line in Ukraine’s eastern province of Donetsk. One soldier, Pavlo Pryzhehodskiy, 27, played a song he had written on a guitar after 12 of his comrades were killed in a single night.
“It is sad that instead of meeting friends, celebratingΒ ²Ή²Τ»εΜύgiving gifts to one another, people were forced to seek shelter, some were killed,” he told Reuters.
“It is a huge tragedy that cannot ever be forgiven. That is why the New Year is sad.”
In a nearby trench, soldier Oleh Zahrodskiy, 49, said he had volunteered after his son was called up as a reservist. Now, his son is in hospital, fighting for his life with a brain injury, while his father mans the front.
“It is very tough now,” he said, holding back tears.
‘HAPPY NEW YEAR’
Kyiv‘s police chief,Μύ΄‘²Τ»εrii Nebytov, posted a photo on the Telegram app, showing what was described as a piece of aΜύ»ε°ω΄Η²Τ±πΒ used in an attack on the capital, with a handwritten sign on it inΜύΈι³ά²υ²υΎ±²Ήn reading “Happy New Year”.
“This wreckage is not at the front, where fierce battles are taking place, this is here, on a sports grounds, where children play,” Mr. Nebytov said.
Έι³ά²υ²υΎ±²ΉΜύhas flattened Ukrainian citiesΒ ²Ή²Τ»εΜύkilled thousands of civilians since Putin ordered his invasion in February, saying Ukraine was an artificial state whose pro-Western outlook threatenedΜύΈι³ά²υ²υΎ±²Ή‘s security.
Russia, which denies targeting civilians, has since claimed to have annexed about a fifth of Ukraine.
Ukraine has fought back with Western military support, drivingΜύΈι³ά²υ²υΎ±²Ήn forces from more than half the territory they seized. In recent weeks, the front lines have been largely static, with thousands of soldiers dying in intense warfare.
Έι³ά²υ²υΎ±²ΉΜύsaysΜύΎ±³Ω²υΜύaerial strikes aim to reduce Ukraine’s ability to fight;Μύ°²βΎ±±ΉΜύsays they have no military purposeΒ ²Ή²Τ»εΜύare intended to hurt civilians, a war crime.
“The main thing is the fate ofΜύΈι³ά²υ²υΎ±²Ή,” Mr. Putin said in a New Year’s Eve speech to a group dressed in military uniform, instead of the event’s normal backdrop of the Kremlin walls.
“Defense of the fatherl²Ή²Τ»εΜύis our sacred duty to our ancestorsΒ ²Ή²Τ»εΜύdescendants. Moral, historical righteousness is on our side.”
A UkrainianΜύ»ε°ω΄Η²Τ±πΒ attack damaged a power facility inΜύΈι³ά²υ²υΎ±²Ή‘s BryanskΜύ°ω±π²΅Ύ±΄Η²ΤΒ bordering Ukraine,ΜύΎ±³Ω²υΜύgovernor said on Monday, adding that there were no casualties.
Έι³ά²υ²υΎ±²ΉΜύsaid last week that it shot down a UkrainianΜύ»ε°ω΄Η²Τ±πΒ close to one of long-range bomber bases deep insideΜύΎ±³Ω²υΜύterritoryΒ ²Ή²Τ»εΜύthat three air force personnel had been killed.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the report. – Reuters
