KYIV – Ukrainian officials said at least 30 people died on the night of December 28-29 in a massive Russian airstrike that combined hypersonic and other missiles and drones to hit military and civilian targets across the country, including the Capital, Kiev, to hit This appeared to be the largest bombardment of the 22-month invasion.
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Air defense was mobilized, but there were casualties reported in Kiev, Lviv, Odessa and other major cities. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram that 30 people were killed and more than 160 were injured.
Search and rescue operations were underway late on December 29, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video message.
More than 100 private homes were destroyed or damaged, 45 high-rise buildings, schools, two churches, hospitals, a maternity hospital and many commercial and warehouse buildings were hit, Zelenskiy said. Nine people were killed and 30 injured in the attack on a warehouse and other buildings in Kiev.
“It is important that the world responds to this next manifestation of terror,” he said, calling Russian forces “this scum.”
Zelensky and other Ukrainian defense officials said the attack was the worst since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
The U.N. Security Council met hastily to discuss the attack, which Deputy Secretary-General Khaled Khiari called “horrific.”
“Tragically, 2023 will end as it began – with devastating violence against the people of Ukraine,” he said, noting that international humanitarian law prohibits attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Telegram said that Ukraine and three dozen other UN member states had requested the meeting.
In his video message, Zelensky praised Ukrainian air defense soldiers and said they had “achieved a lot today.”
According to the Ukrainian armed forces, military sites were also attacked.
US President Joe Biden said it was the “largest airstrike on Ukraine since the beginning of this war” and said Russia had used drones and missiles, including missiles with hypersonic capability, to attack cities and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine.
He added that unless Congress takes urgent action in the new year, “we will not be able to continue sending the weapons and vital air defense systems that Ukraine needs to protect its people.”
He again urged lawmakers to break the deadlock on his planned $61 billion aid package for Ukraine and “act without further delay.”
WATCH: A massive Russian airstrike – described as the largest bombing of the war – hit Ukrainian cities on the night of December 28-29.
Zelensky said on December 29 that he had visited the city of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, which is regularly attacked by Russian forces.
“This is one of the most difficult areas of the front line,” he wrote on Telegram, adding that Ukraine “survived” in 2023 thanks to soldiers serving on the front lines.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is shown in Avdiyivka on December 29th.
Also on December 29, Russia accused Ukraine of firing three U.S.-made air-to-surface missiles into its southern Belgorod region.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that “the three Ukrainian HARM missiles manufactured by the United States were destroyed by air defense systems over the territory of the Belgorod region.”
Late on December 29, Belgorod's governor said Russian anti-aircraft units had shot down “several” aerial targets as they approached.
“According to preliminary information, there is one dead and one injured,” Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in Telegram.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces posted a video on Telegram showing the sky over Belgorod and showing at least one building in flames.
Western allies, including the United States, have been publicly cautious about supplying some types of weapons that could reach deep into Russia, and Moscow has repeatedly tried to set “red lines” on Western support for Kiev.
Josep Borrell, head of foreign policy for the European Union called The nightly Russian attacks were “one of the largest attacks against cities and the population since the large-scale invasion of Ukraine.”
“It was another cowardly and indiscriminate attack on schools, a subway station and a hospital that left at least 16 people dead and several injured,” Borrell added separately. “The EU stands by Ukraine as long as it lasts.”
Photo gallery:
Ukraine suffers the largest Russian airstrike since the full-scale invasion began
According to the Ukrainian military, Russia launched its largest airstrike on Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began. An unprecedented number of drones and missiles targeted cities across the country, killing at least 16 people and injuring nearly 100.
After the news of the night air strikes on Ukraine, France accused Russia of a “terrorist strategy”.
“Russia continues its terrorist strategy aimed at destroying Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure in order to undermine the resilience of the Ukrainian population,” the French Foreign Ministry said. “France will continue to support Ukraine and, in close coordination with its partners, provide it with the necessary assistance to enable it to exercise self-defense.”
Kiev and many Western leaders have accused Russia of continually targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, and Biden has called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” over his actions in Ukraine.
Russia denies attacks on civilians despite abundant evidence to the contrary in the media.
With reporting by Portal and AFP