Russia launched a second major missile attack on Ukraine in three days on Saturday, with explosions reported across the country on New Year’s Eve, Ukrainian officials said.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least one person was killed and 20 wounded in a series of explosions in the capital.
One of the injured, a Japanese journalist, was taken to hospital, the mayor said.
A hotel south of central Kyiv was attacked and a residential building was damaged in another district, according to the city government.
“The hotel has not been open for a while,” Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford reported from Kyiv.
“We have no details on whether anyone was injured in the attack – it was one of 10 explosions heard in Kyiv. The nearby streets were also damaged.”
The governor of the region around Kyiv, Oleksiy Kuleba, had recently warned of a possible missile attack and said the area’s air defenses were attacking the target.
“The terrorist state fired several waves of missiles. They wished us a happy new year. But we will persevere,” Kouleba wrote in another post after the blast in the capital.
nationwide attack
Other Ukrainian cities have also come under fire. In the southern Nikolayev region, six people were wounded, local governor Vitaly King said on television.
In another Telegram post, Kim said Russia was targeting civilians, a claim Moscow had previously denied.
“Based on today’s trends, occupiers are the ones who are visible, not just critical…in many cities [they are targeting] Just residential areas, hotels, garages, roads. “
Two people were injured in a drone attack in the western city of Khmelnytsky, Ukrainian presidential aide Yulia Tymoshenko said.
The official also reported an attack in the southern industrial city of Zaporozhye, which Tymoshenko said damaged residential buildings.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry responded with a provocative message on Telegram.
“With every new missile attack on civilian infrastructure, more and more Ukrainians believe in the need to fight until the Putin regime is completely down,” it wrote.
Russia fights to defend ‘Motherland’
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would never give in to Western attempts to use Ukraine as a tool to destroy Russia.
In a New Year’s video message broadcast on state television, Putin said Russia was fighting in Ukraine to protect its “fatherland” and ensure its people “genuine independence”.
Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a New Year’s message to soldiers that his country’s victory in Ukraine was “inevitable” as Moscow’s military campaign entered its 11th month.
Shoigu said in a video speech released by the Ministry of Defense: “In the coming year, I would like to wish you all good health, perseverance, reliable and loyal comrades… Our victory is as inevitable as the New Year .”
Shoigu said that in the coming year, “we are all facing severe tests” and that the new year came amidst a “difficult military-political situation”. Russia’s military has suffered a string of setbacks on the ground over the past few months, with the Kremlin announcing in September that it would mobilize 300,000 reservists to fight.
