As Russia threatened to react for what it described as a “terrorist attack” on a border city that left 24 people dead, Kiev announced on Sunday that it had destroyed 21 of the 49 Iranian-made drones that had been shot.
The “Shahed” drones were specifically aimed at “the front line of defense, as well as at civilian, military, and infrastructure facilities in the front-line territories,” according to the Ukrainian air force.
In a Telegram post, Kyiv stated that six guided missiles had also been fired into Kharkiv in the northeast, though it was not stated if the missiles had succeeded in hitting their objectives.
The chief of Kharkiv’s military administration, Oleg Sinegubov, reported that 28 civilians, including two teenagers and a foreign national, had been injured in the attack on the city.
Residential buildings, offices and cafes were hit in the latest overnight attacks, said Kharkiv mayor Igor Terekhov.
“On the eve of the New Year, Russians want to intimidate our city, but we are not scared,” he said.
A day earlier, Russia had suffered the bloodiest attack on civilians since the conflict’s inception in February 2022. This was followed by more Russian strikes.
In Belgorod, which is only 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the border and has frequently been hit by what Moscow claims is indiscriminate shelling, the official death toll has increased to 24 with 108 wounded.
Over the weekend, the two sides alternated in accusing one another of battering civilian sections of their common frontier territory.
‘Blame Putin’
At an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council, Moscow claimed that controversial cluster munitions had been used in the Belgorod strike and disclosed that Kyiv had targeted a university, a sports center, and an ice rink.
It was described as a “deliberate, indiscriminate attack against a civilian target” by Russian envoy Vasily Nebenzya.
The friends of Ukraine retorted that Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, was ultimately to blame for the invasion of the neighboring nation almost two years ago.
“If Russia wants someone to blame for the deaths of Russians in this war, it should start with President Putin,” said British envoy to the UN Thomas Phipps.
Both Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky were due to give New Year’s Eve speeches Sunday after the latest escalation in violence.
January 1, day of mourning
The attack on Belgorod occurred one day after Ukraine claimed that 39 people had died as a result of a flurry of Russian missile strikes on multiple cities, including the capital.
A maternity hospital, commercial centers, apartment buildings, and schools were among the structures damaged in Friday’s bombardment, which was one of the bloodiest since the war’s inception.
According to local authorities, more strikes struck the districts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Chernigiv on Saturday while rescue workers were still sorting through the debris.
According to officials, Russian strikes in various parts of Ukraine on Saturday claimed the lives of three additional persons.
According to local officials, January 1 would be observed as a day of sorrow in Kyiv, the country’s capital, where 19 people had died.
Russia’s army said it had “carried out 50 group strikes and one massive strike” on military facilities in Ukraine over the past week, adding that “all targets were hit”.
The United Nations condemned the attacks and said they must stop “immediately”.
Ukraine is urging Western allies to maintain military support.
“Next year will be a time of many decisions — global decisions. And Ukraine needs to be able to influence them to be able to achieve its goals,” Zelensky said in his evening address Saturday.
“We will fight for our influence, for justice for Ukraine, and I am grateful to all the leaders who help, who have been with us since February 24th and will be with us in 2024.”
Britain announced it would send hundreds more air-defence missiles to Kyiv, after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared: “We must continue to stand with Ukraine — for as long as it takes.”