KYIV: Kyiv said on Tuesday that Russia had launched a barrage of drones and missiles across Ukraine, conceding that there were successful strikes in the east of the country and near the capital. Authorities did not elaborate on what had been hit but in the wider Kyiv region, the governor said, debris from a downed projectile had damaged a private home and wounded a woman. Moscow said its forces had used attack drones and precision weapons in a "combined" assault on a military airfield and a munitions production facility, claiming that the targets were struck.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 21 missiles of various types and 40 drones in the barrage, adding that seven missiles and 16 unmanned aerial vehicles were downed. "As a result of the Russian attack, there were ballistic missile hits in Sumy and Kyiv regions," the air force said. Russia has launched aerial attacks on Ukraine at night almost every day since its forces attacked in February 2022, targeting military and civilian infrastructure, too, like energy facilities. Ukraine has stepped up its own drone and missile attacks inside Russian territory in response, and urged its Western allies to supply more air defence systems. A Ukrainian drone attack in western Russia caused a fuel spill and fire at an oil depot, a Russian regional governor said earlier on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin praised his country's achievements in a New Year's Eve speech on Tuesday, saying Russians should be "proud" of what Russia had done during his quarter century in power. The address, delivered exactly 25 years since he took over from predecessor Boris Yeltsin, did not explicitly mention the nearly three-year conflict in Ukraine and focused mostly on wishes for the year ahead.
"Dear friends, in just a few minutes 2025 will be ushered in, completing the first quarter of the 21st century," Putin said in the televised remarks. "Yes, we still have a lot to decide but we can be rightfully proud of what has already been done," the Kremlin chief added, saying the 25 years had paved the way for "further development".
He also praised Russia's soldiers, a theme echoed in his previous New Year's addresses since his full-scale military attack on Ukraine began. "On this New Year's Eve, the thoughts, hopes of relatives and friends, millions of people across Russia are together with our fighters and commanders," Putin said. "Now, on the threshold of a new year, we are thinking about the future. We are sure that everything will be all right. We will only go forward."
Russian forces advanced by 3,985 square kilometres in Ukraine in 2024, seven times more than in 2023, according to an AFP analysis of data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Much of the Russian gains came in the autumn, as they took 610 square kilometres in October and 725 square kilometres in November. Those two months saw the Russians conquer the most territory since March 2022, in the early weeks of the conflict. The Russian advance slowed in December, coming to 465 square kilometres in the first 30 days of the month. However it is already nearly four times bigger than in the same month of the previous year and two and a half times more than in December 2022. — AFP
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