Continuing attacks on the second day of the new year, Russian drones have again damaged civilian infrastructure in Kyiv and its surroundings, reports Reuters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky informed in his address on the 1st of January that already on the first night of the new year, the Ukrainian Air Defense Forces shot down 45 drones manufactured in Iran. The President called for showing gratitude both to soldiers and to each other and added that Ukraine’s strength lies in its unity.
By three o’clock in the morning of the 2nd of January, 20 objects had already been intercepted in the sky over the capital. Oleksiy Kuleba, the governor of the Kyiv region, wrote on the Telegram app that the Russians were targeting critical infrastructure. Meanwhile, in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia, nine drones launched by Russia had already been shot down early Monday morning.
Bridget Brink, the US ambassador to Ukraine, wrote on the microblogging network Twitter: «Russia coldly and cowardly attacked Ukraine in the early hours of the New Year. But Putin still does not seem to understand that Ukrainians are made of iron.»
Beyond belief. Russia coldly and cowardly attacked Ukraine in the early hours of the new year. But Putin still does not seem to understand that Ukrainians are made of iron. America is absolutely confident Ukraine will prevail in 2023. Slava Ukraini!
— Ambassador Bridget A. Brink (@USAmbKyiv) January 1, 2023
Soldiers greeted the new year on the front line in eastern Ukraine, in Donetsk. One of the soldiers, Pavlo Pryzhehodskiy, played a song he had composed after 12 of his comrades fell in just one night. The young man said that welcoming the new year like this is a tragedy for all Ukrainians. In another trench, the news agency met Oleh Zahrodskiy, who volunteered for the army after his son was drafted. The young man is currently fighting for his life in the hospital, while his father is fighting at the front.
Kyiv police chief Andrii Nebytov posted an image on Telegram showing fragments of a drone and a handwritten note in Russian, adding that
these were not images from the frontline, but from places where children should play every day.
Russia has been ravaging Ukrainian cities since February 2022, killing thousands of civilians and forcing millions more to flee their homes.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin made it clear in a harsh New Year’s address that he was not going to stop attacking Ukraine. «The main thing is the fate of Russia. Defence of the fatherland is our sacred duty to our ancestors and descendants. Moral, historical righteousness is on our side,» he said.
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