After Moscow launched airstrikes against civilian targets for the third night in a row, a first, Ukraine claimed on Monday that it had destroyed all Russian drones in a major wave of attacks. Moscow had been escalating its air campaign for the New Year’s holiday.
While this was happening, reports emerged that a strike on a college that had been turned into a barracks in occupied Ukraine, where soldiers were being housed beside an ammo depot, had resulted in the deaths of a significant number of newly mobilized Russian forces. Numerous people had killed, a person close to the Russian-installed government said Reuters.
Hundreds of kilometers from the front lines, Russia began the new year with nighttime attacks on Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv. After months in which Moscow typically spread such strikes out by about a week, that represents a change in strategy.
Russia launched dozens of Shahed drones produced in Iran on January 1 and January 2 after shooting dozens of missiles on December 31. However, Kyiv said on Monday that it had destroyed all 39 drones in the most recent wave, including 22 that were shot down above the city.
The new strategy, according to Kyiv, was an indication of Russia’s desperation because Ukraine could now better defend its airspace.
According to presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak on Telegram, Russia had been attempting to destroy Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for months but had been unsuccessful because Ukraine had developed superior defenses.
They are currently trying to find ways to attack us, but their terror strategies will fail. The sky will become a barrier over us.
Russian initiatives, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will be fruitless since Ukrainians have shown gratitude to the military and to one another.
He stated of the Russians, “Drones, missiles, everything else will not help them.” “Because we are a united front. They are only linked by dread.
Ukraine’s air defense systems worked all night to shoot down oncoming drones and alert nearby people to the impending threat.
Oleksiy Kuleba, the governor of Kyiv, reported that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked Ukrainians for expressing gratitude to the forces and to one another and stated Russia’s attempts will be fruitless. “It is loud in the region and in the capital: night drone assaults.”
He stated of the Russians, “Drones, missiles, everything else will not help them.” “mostly because we are one. Only their shared terror unites them.”
Ukraine’s air defense systems worked all night to shoot down oncoming drones and alert nearby people to the impending threat.
“The night drone assaults are noisy in the area and in the city, Kyiv Governor Oleksiy Kuleba declared. “Russians launched several waves of Shahed drones. concentrating on important infrastructure facilities Air defense is in action.”
Since suffering devastating defeats on the battlefield in the second half of 2022, Russia, which has taken and claims to have annexed around a fifth of Ukraine, has resorted to massive airstrikes against Ukrainian cities.
It claims that its attacks, which during the winter have left millions without heat and electricity, are meant to weaken Kiev’s fighting prowess. Ukraine claims that the attacks are a war crime because they are meant to harm civilians and serve no military purpose.
