Russia launched a massive series of attacks on several cities in Ukraine, including the capital Kiev, on Friday, December 29, with “a record number of missiles.” In a recent report that could get worse, the Russian fire left at least 18 dead and 132 injured, Ukrainian national police said, saying people could still be found under the rubble.
Also read: Live, War in Ukraine: Poland claims a Russian missile entered its airspace before leaving
The attacks were particularly directed against the capital Kiev and the cities of Dnipropetrovsk (centre-east), Kharkiv (northeast), Lviv (west), Zaporizhzhia (south) and Odessa (south).
“Russia has used almost all types of weapons in its arsenal,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the Ukraine social network, 114 of which were destroyed. “This is the most massive missile attack,” the Ukrainian Air Force spokesman told Agence France-Presse, apart from the first days of the war. Yuri Ihnat.
NATO member Poland said one of the Russian missiles fired at Ukraine briefly flew through its airspace in the morning. “He immediately left this room” for Ukraine, said Chief of Staff Wieslaw Kukula.
A condemned “strategy of terror”
The attacks hit “civilian facilities and civilian buildings,” said Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff. “The world must realize that we need more help and resources to stop this terror,” he added on Telegram.
A word picked up by the American ambassador, Bridget Brink, according to which “Ukraine needs money now to keep fighting.” On Wednesday, Washington released the final tranche of military aid granted to Kiev by the US Congress until further notice.
Read also the decryption: Article reserved for our subscribers From Brussels to Washington, Kiev is fighting the risk that Western aid will dry up
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak believed that these attacks showed that Vladimir Putin “will stop at nothing,” while France “strongly condemned” a “strategy of terror.”
The European Union's diplomatic chief Josep Borrell denounced “cowardly attacks” and promised that the European Union “will stand by Ukraine for as long as necessary.” The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called on Moscow to “immediately end these attacks” and “respect international laws governing conflicts.”
“All goals were achieved”
Russia limited itself to ensuring that “all objectives were achieved” in its daily briefing. It claimed to have targeted military infrastructure, ammunition depots and locations where Ukrainian soldiers were stationed in more than fifty attacks, including a “major one” between December 23 and 29.
The world application
The morning of the world
Every morning, discover our selection of 20 items not to be missed
Download the app
The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, condemned “a hateful wave of attacks” against X, highlighting the “terrible reality” Ukrainians are experiencing.
In Kiev, a 3,000 square meter hangar was set on fire in the Podil district. A subway station used as a bomb shelter was damaged, as were several residential buildings and other hangars. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, a maternity hospital in Dnipro was also “severely damaged,” although no injuries were reported.
The wave of Russian attacks ends 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 Marïnka. They also come against a backdrop of Western aid to Kiev running out both in Europe and the United States, and the country facing a shortage of ammunition and funds.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Ukrainian soldiers are running out of ammunition in Donbass