At least 30 people were killed and more than 160 injured in large-scale Russian attacks on Ukraine on Friday, according to a new report from authorities on those particularly deadly attacks.
“30 people have currently been killed and more than 160 injured in Russia’s massive attack on Ukrainian territory this morning,” Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said in Telegram.
NATO member Poland said Friday that an unidentified flying object from Ukraine had entered its airspace, an incident that could be linked to the attacks.
“Today Russia has used almost all types of weapons in its arsenal,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the social network X.
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According to the Air Force, 158 missiles and drones were fired at Ukraine, 114 of which were destroyed.
“This is the most massive missile attack ever,” Air Force spokesman Yuri Ignat told AFP.
The attacks were directed against “civilian facilities, civilian buildings,” assured Andriï Iermak, Mr. Zelensky’s chief of staff.
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“We are doing everything we can to strengthen our air defense shield. But the world must realize that we need more help and resources to stop this terror,” he added on the social network Telegram.
A statement confirmed by American Ambassador Bridget Brink that “Ukraine needs money now to continue fighting to free itself from this horror in 2024.”
On Wednesday, Washington released the final tranche of military aid granted to Kiev by the US Congress until further notice.
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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said these attacks showed Vladimir Putin “would stop at nothing.” France condemned “with the utmost firmness” a “strategy of terror”.
At least 16 people were killed and 97 injured in the Russian shooting, including two children aged six and eight, said Prosecutor General Andriï Kostine.
Russia limited itself to stating in its daily briefing that “all objectives have been achieved,” as it does every day.
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It claimed to have targeted military infrastructure, ammunition depots and locations where Ukrainian soldiers were stationed in more than 50 attacks, including a “major” one in Ukraine between December 23 and 29.
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, condemned “a hateful wave of attacks” on
In Kiev, where, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, “anti-aircraft defenses are active,” AFP journalists heard several loud explosions in the early hours of the morning.
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In the Podil district in northern Kiev, a 3,000 m² hangar burst into flames. A subway station used as a bomb shelter was damaged, as were several residential buildings and other hangars.
According to the Ministry of Health, a maternity hospital in Dnipro was also “severely damaged”, although no injuries were reported.
Search operations are underway in Poland after a flying object “coming from the border with Ukraine” was detected by radar near the border town of Zamosc in the east of the country.
In November 2022, a Ukrainian missile struck the Polish village of Przewodow near the border with Ukraine, killing two civilians. The incident briefly sparked fears that the conflict would spread.
The wave of Russian attacks caps a difficult year for Ukraine, marked by the failure of the summer counteroffensive and the resumption of the initiative by Moscow forces, which this week claimed the capture of the eastern front town of Marinka.
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They also come against the background that Western aid to Kiev comes from both Europe and the United States. A situation that causes the country to run out of ammunition and resources.
U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink said Thursday that Ukraine's financial needs are “critical and urgent.”
President Zelensky again called on the United States on Thursday to maintain its “essential” aid after releasing a new tranche of $250 million (225 million euros), the latest without a new vote in the American Congress, which rejects this moment, more money to provide.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vetoed a new EU aid package, an issue that Europeans want to resolve at a new summit in early February 2024.