Ukrainian authorities announce a fresh series of Russian air strikes, signaling a resumption of hostilities after two days of intense aerial engagements between the opposing forces.
The majority of attacks focused on Kharkiv in the east, with additional reports of explosions emerging from other locations.
Justifying its actions, Moscow claimed retaliation against Ukrainian strikes on the Russian border city of Belgorod on Saturday, where a minimum of 24 lives were lost.
The occurrence followed Russia’s air strikes spanning across Ukraine on Friday.
Kyiv declared that the recent attacks, resulting in a minimum of 41 casualties, constituted the most extensive missile bombardment of the ongoing war.
The most recent Russian strikes occurred as Ukraine marked its final day of 2023.
Russia’s defense ministry stated that the attack on Kharkiv, including a hotel target, was a direct response to Saturday’s strikes on Belgorod. They specified the deployment of high-precision missiles to hit military targets within the city.
Ukraine’s air force disclosed on Sunday that it successfully neutralized 21 out of 49 Russian drones deployed overnight, with the majority of attacks directed towards the Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Late on Saturday, the military administration of the region around Kyiv’s capital confirmed the engagement of Ukraine’s air defense systems to repel a Russian drone attack, conveyed through Telegram.
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At least six missiles hit the city near the Russian border overnight, causing injuries to 28 individuals, according to the regional governor of Kharkiv.
Ukraine’s interior ministry also reported damage to 12 blocks of flats, 13 homes, hospitals, a hotel building, a kindergarten, commercial premises, a gas pipeline and cars.
‘These are not military facilities, but cafes, residential buildings and offices,’ Kharkiv’s mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram.
‘On the eve of the New Year, the Russians want to intimidate our city, but we are not scared – we are unbreakable and invincible.’
Two people lost their lives in the southern region of Kherson due to Russian shelling, as reported by the governor.
The most recent assaults follow a harrowing couple of days marked by deadly events in both Ukraine and Russia.
The massive bombardment unleashed by Russia on Ukraine last Friday led to the loss of dozens of lives and injuries to nearly 160 people. Multiple cities, including Kyiv, were targeted.
Kyiv’s Mayor, Vitali Klitschko, announced the recovery of two additional bodies from a warehouse struck by an air strike, bringing the total number of casualties in air strikes on the city to 18. The overall death toll across Ukraine from Friday’s attacks now stands at least 41.