ONE OF RUSSIA’S LARGEST MISSILE STRIKES
Rescuers work at the site where a residential building was damaged during a Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine December 29, 2023.
According to reports, Russia launched one of its largest missile assaults on Ukraine thus far in war on Friday, striking residential structures in Kyiv, the south and west of the nation, and killing eighteen civilians and injuring over 130 others.
The massive year-end airstrike, according to the Ukrainian foreign ministry, demonstrated that there should be “no talk of a truce” with the Kremlin at a time when Kyiv is in danger of losing crucial Western assistance.
Millions of Ukrainians woke up to the deafening sound of explosions today. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba expressed her desire for the sounds of explosions in Ukraine to be audible to everyone on Earth and urged partners to persist with providing long-term military assistance.
According to police and other sources, after residential structures and another abandoned property were struck, at least three individuals were reported deceased and twenty-two confirmed wounded in the capital of Kyiv.
Mariia, a resident of Kiev, revealed that she had fled to her bathroom after hearing a “horrible sound” at home.
“It was really terrifying. Everything was humming and buzzing as a missile flew. I had no idea what to do. I wanted to run down to the shelter. As I went inside the bathroom, the mirror flew off (the wall).”
Mariia
The Air Force reported that it had downed 27 drones and 87 cruise missiles out of 158 aerial “targets” fired by Russia.
According to the military of NATO member Poland, an unidentified aircraft object entered its airspace from neighboring Ukraine and was followed by the country’s air defenses until its signal vanished.
Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat did not refute or corroborate the allegation, but he did point out that comparable events had occurred in Poland and Romania during earlier Russian airstrikes.
According to Army Chief General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the strike was directed on military, industrial, and critical infrastructure targets. The Russian government, which disputes that it targets civilians, did not immediately respond.
“Russia launched an attack using every weapon in its arsenal… About 110 missiles were launched, the majority of which were shot down, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s Telegram chat post.
For weeks, Ukraine has been alerting everyone to the possibility that Russia is preparing to strike the energy grid by air by launching missile stockpiles. Russian attacks on the power system last winter left millions of people without electricity.
“One of the largest missile attacks on Ukrainian cities and villages” since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, according to the foreign ministry, was carried out on Friday.
Power outages were recorded by the energy ministry in the areas outside of Kyiv, central Dnipropetrovsk, northeastern Kharkiv, and southern Odesa.
REPORTS OF WIDESPREADS DAMAGE
While searching for survivors of a house explosion in the southeast city of Zaporizhzhia, Viktor Chuhunov, 73, revealed he was at home when he heard a loud explosion.
Here, a woman passed away. About the house, he remarked, “I’m not sure if her son was at home or at work.
Additionally, the interior ministry reported on Telegram Messenger that multiple infrastructure facilities in Zaporizhzhia were struck by missiles.
According to police, five people were killed when missiles impacted a residence, a commercial center, and a six-story residential structure in the central Dnipropetrovsk region.
The regional governor reported that strikes on residential buildings resulted in three fatalities and at least fifteen injuries, including two children, in the Black Sea port city of Odesa.
According to the president’s office, missile strikes at an unidentified important infrastructure facility in the Lviv area, which borders Poland, have been confirmed.
According to the regional governor, one person perished in a damaged multi-story residential building in the city of Lviv. The mayor added that there were damages to three schools and a kindergarten.
According to the regional governor, a missile strike in the northeastern city of Kharkiv destroyed a transport depot, an industrial building, a warehouse, and a medical institution. He added that one person had died and eleven others had been hurt.
