Russian missiles hit civilian infrastructure in Kyiv on New Year’s Eve

Europe, News January 1, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Russia carried out a second missile attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in the last three hours before the new year. Similar attacks and explosions were also reported from other parts of the country.

According to Ukrainian officials, at least one person died and more than 20 people were injured during the missile attacks that targeted civilian infrastructure in the country’s capital. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that one of those injured was a Japanese journalist who had been taken to hospital.

The attack was carried out at a hotel in Kyiv’s city center while some residential buildings were also damaged during the attacks. The hotel was not functional at the time of the attack. So far, there are no details about the other explosions that were heard throughout the city at different intervals.

The governor of the Kyiv region, Oleksiy Kuleba, had warned shortly beforehand of a possible incoming missile attack and said air defenses in the region were engaging targets.

“The terrorist country launched several waves of missiles. They are wishing us a happy New Year. But we will persevere,” Kuleba announced in a social media post after explosions shook the capital.

*^{Local residents walk outside a building damaged during Russian missile attacks on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine on December 31, 2022. (Image Credit: Reuters/Gleb Garanich)}*

Apart from Kyiv, missile attacks were also reported from nearby regions including the Mykolaiv region. Local governor Vitaliy Kim said on television that at least six people had been wounded as a result of a Russian missile attack. He said Russia had targeted civilians with the attacks, which Moscow previously denied.

Ukrainian officials also reported a separate incident from the western city of Khmelnytskyi, where two people were wounded as a result of a Russian drone attack. An attack was also carried out in the southern industrial city of Zaporizhzhia.

Putin’s New Year message

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin recorded a New Year’s message that was broadcasted by Russia’s state-owned media outlets. In his message, he said that Russia would never give in to the West’s attempts to use Ukraine as a tool to destroy his country.

Putin stated in his recorded message that Russia was fighting in Ukraine to protect its “motherland” and to secure “true independence” for its people.

*^{Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. (Image Credit: Mikhail Metzel/TASS)}*

Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu also released his New Year’s message where he addressed Russian forces, as Moscow’s military campaign grinds through its 11th month. He said that his country’s victory in Ukraine was “inevitable” in a New Year’s message to servicemen.

Russian troops have suffered a string of setbacks on the ground during the past few weeks. Kremlin announced the mobilization of at least 300,000 reservists to join the fighting in September this year. Shoigu addressed the military forces by saying that during the outgoing year “we all faced serious trials” and that the New Year comes during a “difficult military-political situation.”