The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Russians to be careful, warning that their leader is destroying their country.
Speaking shortly after Vladimir Putin delivered a New Year address flanked by people in military uniform, Zelenskyy said the Russian president was hiding behind his troops, not leading them.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that Saturday saw a day of deadly strikes in several parts of Ukraine, and Zelenskyy said Ukrainians would not forgive Russia.
At least one person died and dozens were injured in the attacks.
The head of Ukraine’s armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhny, said air defences had shot down 12 of 20 Russian cruise missiles.
There were further missile strikes on Kyiv just hours into the New Year yesterday, officials said. The Ukrainian Air force said it had shot down 45 Iranian-made kamikaze drones overnight.
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But the strikes, which came in the opening hours of 2023, fuelled anger and hate among Ukrainians already tired of Russia’s unrelenting air campaign.
As explosions rocked the capital, some residents sang the national anthem, while officials accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians while they gathered to celebrate the New Year.
Andriy Nebitov, the head of the Kyiv police, posted an image to social media of a downed drone with the words: ‘Happy New Year’ scribbled across it in Russian.
‘That is everything you need to know about the terror state and its army,’ he wrote on Facebook, adding that the remains had crashed in a children’s playground.
The latest wave of attacks happened two days after one of the largest air strikes since the start of the war. Dozens of attacks in recent weeks have caused repeated power cuts.
Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, but Putin has recently admitted hitting critical energy facilities.
In an address on his Telegram channel, Zelenskyy said those who carried out Saturday’s attacks were inhuman.
Switching from Ukrainian to Russian, he then attacked Putin.
‘Your leader wants to show you that he’s leading from the front, and his military is behind him.
‘But in fact he is hiding. He’s hiding behind his military, his missiles, the walls of his residences and palaces.
“’He’s hiding behind you, and he’s burning your country and your future. No one will forgive you for terror. No one in the world will forgive you for that. Ukraine will not forgive,’ he said.
Zelenskyy later gave a new year’s address to the Ukrainian people, thanking them for their “incredible” efforts in repelling Russian advances.