Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday vowed to wreak “wrath” against Russian forces this year, hours before Ukraine saw attacks on the first day of the year.
Russia and Ukraine have seen an escalation in strikes, including on Saturday an unprecedented assault on the Russian city of Belgorod that killed 24 people.
The attack came a day after Moscow launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities, killing 39 people in one of the biggest aerial attacks since the war began.
Photo: Reuters
Yesterday was a day of mourning in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, where 19 people had been killed, city officials said.
Just hours after midnight on New Year’s Day, the Russian-installed head of the occupied Donetsk region said four people had been killed and 13 wounded in “massive shelling” from rockets on its main city.
In Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, Governor Oleg Kiper said one person died in a Russian drone attack and three others were wounded.
In western Ukraine’s Lviv region, air defense systems shot down Russian drones in the early hours yesterday, Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said.
Zelenskiy’s televised New Year’s address featured clips of Ukrainian artillery and fighter jets.
“Next year, the enemy will feel the wrath of domestic production,” Zelenskiy said.
Ukraine would have at least “a million” additional drones in its arsenal next year, Zelenskiy added, as well as F-16 jets delivered by its Western partners.
“Our pilots are already mastering F-16 jets and we will definitely see them in our skies,” he said.
Despite billions of dollars of Western weapons, Ukraine struggled to make a major breakthrough in last year’s counteroffensive against invading Russian forces, while Moscow has ramped up pressure along the front lines, capturing the eastern town of Marinka early last month and pushing for control of Kupiansk in the northeast.
Ukraine is urging its Western allies to maintain military support.
The UK announced it would send hundreds more air-defense missiles to Kyiv, after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “We must continue to stand with Ukraine — for as long as it takes.”
Zelenskiy’s counterpart Russian President Vladimir Putin did not mention Ukraine in his traditional New Year’s Eve address on Sunday, but praised Russia’s soldiers on the front line and called for unity in the face of “difficult tasks.”
“To all those who are on duty, on the front line of the fight for truth and justice, you are our heroes. Our hearts are with you,” Putin said.
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