UPDATE ON THE SITUATION – Warsaw asked the Russian chargé d'affaires in Poland to hand him a note asking him to “explain the incident” and “immediately stop this type of operation.”
Russia on Friday carried out a massive series of attacks on several cities in Ukraine, including the capital Kiev, with “a record number of missiles,” killing at least 30 people and wounding more than 160, according to Ukrainian authorities. Le Figaro takes stock.
UN denounces “horrific” attacks
UN Secretary-General António Guterres spoke out against what he called “horrific attacks” on towns and villages. “Russia has used almost every type of weapon in its arsenal,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the social network X (formerly Twitter). According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russia fired almost 160 devices, including cruise missiles and Shahed explosive drones. The anti-aircraft defense managed to shoot down 88 missiles and 27 drones.
“This is the most massive missile attack,” air force spokesman Yuri Ignat told AFP, apart from the first days of the war. The attacks hit essential infrastructure as well as industrial, military and civilian facilities, said a report from the General Staff.
For their part, Russian authorities said that one man was killed and four were injured in a Ukrainian attack on a residential building in Belgorod, a Russian city 80 km north of Kharkiv. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a total of 13 Ukrainian missiles were intercepted over the Belgorod region and 32 drones were neutralized in the Bryansk, Kursk and Orel sectors north of the Ukrainian border and Moscow.
“Hit all targets,” says Russia
In its daily briefing, Russia limited itself to pointing out that “all targets” had been “attacked.” It claimed to have targeted military infrastructure, ammunition depots and deployment sites of Ukrainian soldiers in more than 50 attacks, including a “major” one in Ukraine between December 23 and 29.
In Kiev, a 3,000 m² hangar in the Podil district burst into flames. A subway station used as an air raid shelter as well as several residential buildings and hangars were damaged. According to the Ministry of Health, a maternity hospital in Dnipro was also “severely damaged”, although no injuries were reported.
Rocket in Poland
Poland, a NATO member country, on Friday denounced a “violation” of its airspace “by a cruise missile” and called on Russia to “immediately stop this type of operation.” Warsaw asked the Russian chargé d'affaires in Poland to hand him a note demanding “to declare the incident of violation of the airspace of the Republic of Poland by a cruise missile and to immediately stop operations of this kind.”
In November 2022, a Ukrainian missile struck the Polish village of Przewodow near Ukraine, killing two civilians and briefly sparking fears of an expansion of the conflict.
Joe Biden calls on Congress to “act without further delay”
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. They also come against the backdrop of Western aid to Kiev running out in both Europe and the United States, and the country facing a shortage of ammunition and funds.
“The world must recognize that we need more help and resources to stop this terror,” Andriï Iermak, Mr. Zelensky’s chief of staff, pleaded in Telegram. A comment echoed by American President Joe Biden, who called on Congress, which is currently refusing to allocate more money to Kiev, to act “without further delay” after these “massive bombings”. “Unless Congress takes urgent action in the new year, we will not be able to continue sending the weapons and air defense systems Ukraine needs to protect its people,” he said.
Volodymyr 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 refusing to allocate more.
Britain sends 200 anti-aircraft missiles to Kiev
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose country announced on Friday the deployment of around 200 anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine to bolster its defenses, said those attacks showed that Vladimir Putin “will stop at nothing.” France condemned a “strategy of terror”.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vetoed a new EU aid package, an issue that Europeans want to resolve at a summit in early February 2024.
” data-script=”https://static.lefigaro.fr/widget-video/short-ttl/video/index.js” >