KIEV, Dec 30 (Reuters) – Residents of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv said on Dec. 30 that sirens blared through the city and air raid shelters were demolished on the day after Russia carried out the deadliest air strikes since the start of the civil war. I was urged to go to February.
Shortly after 2 a.m., the Kyiv city government issued a warning about air raid sirens on its Telegram messaging app channel, urging residents to head for shelter.
Kyiv governor Oleksky Kleba said in a Telegram that an “attack by drones” was underway.
Reuters witnesses 20 km (12 mi) south of Kyiv heard several explosions and the sound of anti-aircraft fire.
The Ukrainian military said 16 Iranian-made Shahed drones were launched and all destroyed. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said seven were aimed at the city and one administration building was partially destroyed.
Kyiv says Iran is supplying Moscow with drones for airstrikes, while Tehran says it sent one last drone to Russia before the war began.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces Chief of Staff reported Friday morning that Russia carried out 85 missile attacks, 35 airstrikes and 63 attacks with multiple rocket launching systems in the past 24 hours.
The Moscow military also said it had shelled 20 settlements around the bombed town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, where the heaviest fighting is taking place, and more than 25 settlements in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions.
Reuters was unable to immediately confirm the battlefield report.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said most of the areas hit by Thursday’s massive airstrikes had blackouts.
Areas where the loss of power was “particularly difficult” included the capital Kyiv, Odessa and Kherson in the south and surrounding areas, and around Lviv, near the western border with Poland, Zelensky said.
“But this is nothing compared to what could have happened without heroic anti-aircraft gunners and air defenses,” Zelensky said.
A wave of Russian airstrikes targeting energy infrastructure in recent months has left millions without access to electricity and heating in often freezing temperatures.
ask for more weapons
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on NATO member states to supply Ukraine with more weapons, according to an interview published Friday.
“I call on our allies to do more. It is in all our security interests to ensure that Ukraine wins and[Russian President Vladimir]Putin does not.”
Stoltenberg told the DPA that military aid to Ukraine was the fastest way to peace.
“We know that most wars end at the negotiating table – perhaps this one as well – but we know that what Ukraine can achieve in these negotiations is closely dependent on the military situation.” He said.
The US last week announced about $2 billion in additional military aid, including the Patriot air defense system, which provides protection against aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
The UK said on Friday it had handed over 1,000 metal detectors to Ukraine and 100 kits to help deactivate bombs and clear minefields.
“Russia’s use of landmines and targeting of civilian infrastructure underscores the shocking brutality of Putin’s aggression,” British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said in a statement.
“This latest UK aid package will help Ukraine safely remove land and buildings as it reclaims its rightful territories.”
According to the Ministry of Defense, metal detectors made by German firm Vallon will help the military eliminate blast hazards and ensure safe routes on roads and trails, and the kits will help defuse fuses from unexploded bombs. I can.
Wallace said Thursday that Britain will allocate £2.3 billion ($2.77 billion) in military aid to Ukraine in 2023. This matches the amount offered this year.
battlefield
Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, while Ukraine says daily bombings are destroying power, health care and other infrastructure in cities, towns and countries.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what President Vladimir Putin called a “special military operation” against what he sees as a threat to his country’s security.
Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russia of imperialist land grabbing and imposed sanctions in an attempt to impede the campaign.
The 11-month war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions from their homes, devastated cities, rocked the global economy, and pushed up energy and food prices.
The heaviest fighting took place in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which together make up the industrial Donbass region. Russia claimed he annexed them in September, along with the southern provinces of Kherson and Zaporizhia, but does not fully control any of them.
($1 = £0.8290)
Reported by a Reuters bureau. Written by Grant McCool and Michael Perry.Edited by Daniel Wallis and Simon Cameron Moore
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
