At least three people were injured in kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, following a new salvo of Russian strikes on Thursday, December 29. Nearly 70 Russian missiles were fired at several cities in the country, say the authorities. The French Minister for the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, affirmed, this Wednesday, during his first visit to kyiv, that he wanted to work to meet Ukrainian military needs “for the weeks to come”. For his part, the head of Russian diplomacy said he was “convinced” that Russia would achieve its objectives in Ukraine by dint of “patience” and “stubbornness”, in particular the recognition of four Ukrainian regions of which Moscow claims the annexation.
- Massive strikes on several cities of the country
Ukraine also denounced “massive” strikes Thursday morning on several cities in the country, including the capital kyiv, according to the army and the Ukrainian presidency. “The enemy is attacking Ukraine on several fronts, with cruise missiles fired from planes and ships,” the Air Force announced on social media.
Ukrainian air defense managed to shoot down 54 of the 69 Russian missiles launched against Ukraine on Thursday, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Valery Zalouzhny, also assured on social networks. “According to provisional data, a total of 69 missiles were launched and 54 enemy missiles were shot down,” he wrote on Telegram. Previously, the Ukrainian presidency had reported up to 120 missiles having targeted the country.
At least three people were injured in kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, following a new salvo of Russian strikes on Thursday, said the mayor, Vitali Klitchko. “At present, three people have been injured including a 14-year-old girl. All are hospitalized,” he wrote on Telegram.
- Belarus says it shot down a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile
This is the first incident of this type reported by Minsk since the beginning of the Russian attack in Ukraine, more than 10 months ago, and while Belarus serves as a rear base for Russian forces. The missile was shot down on Thursday morning by Belarusian air defense systems near the village of Gorbakha, in the Brest region (southwest), bordering Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense said in a press release. . “During verifications, it was preliminary established that the debris belonged to an S-300 anti-aircraft missile launched from Ukrainian territory,” the statement said. According to the Ministry of Defense, the Belarusian head of state, Alexander Lukashenko, was “immediately informed of the incident”.
A Telegram account close to the authorities, picked up by the state news agency Belta, broadcast photos of fragments in a field. For the time being, the Belarusian authorities have not reported any injuries or damage. In November, the fall of a missile on a Polish village, which had killed two people, had raised fears that NATO was drawn into the conflict in Ukraine, because Poland is protected by a commitment of collective defense of the Atlantic Alliance. Ukraine had accused Russia of having fired this projectile, but according to the West and Moscow, the missile in question a priori came from a Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense system that had deviated from its trajectory.
- Ukraine evokes “deliberate provocation by Russia”
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reacted this Thursday evening to the accusations from Minsk. kyiv “does not rule out a deliberate provocation” by Russia to “involve Belarus in its war”, he said in a statement. The ministry also said it was “ready” to participate in an investigation into the circumstances of this “incident”.
- Lviv was 90% without electricity, 40% in kyiv
Lviv, the big city in western Ukraine, was 90% deprived of electricity on Thursday after these new Russian bombardments on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the middle of winter. “90% of the city is without electricity […] trams and trolleybuses are no longer running in the city, there could be water cuts,” Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy said on the Telegram social network. Nearly half of the Ukrainian capital kyiv was also private electricity on Thursday at midday, said the mayor of the Ukrainian capital.
Several bursts of Russian fire that hit the country on Thursday morning also caused “significant damage” to the national electricity grid, announced the boss of the operator Ukrenergo. “Unfortunately, due to significant damage to the network, it is difficult for us to supply electricity to the regions of Kharkiv, kyiv, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kherson and Lviv,” lamented Volodymyr Kudrytsky on Ukrainian television.
- Anti-aircraft defense activated, 500 kilometers from Ukraine
Russian air defenses shot down ‘an unidentified object’ near Saratov, 500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, regional governor said, three days after drone attack attributed to Ukraine killed three at air base of the region.
“An air defense system was activated in the territory of the Engels district. An unidentified object was destroyed […] No threats to the safety of the inhabitants”, indicated on Telegram the governor, Roman Boussargine. The military aerodrome of Engels, located in this zone, was hit Monday by a drone attack, the second of its kind in December.
- According to Lavrov, Moscow will achieve its goals
“I am convinced that thanks to our stubbornness, our patience and our determination, we will defend our noble goals, those vital for our people and our country,” Sergei Lavrov said in an interview broadcast Wednesday on Russian television. Pervy Canal. “This while always remaining open to fair dialogue and agreements to ensure equal and indivisible security in Europe,” he continued.
Like the Kremlin before, he nevertheless recalled that the resumption of a dialogue with kyiv necessarily required recognition, by Ukraine, of the annexation by Russia of four Ukrainian regions (Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporijjia, Kherson). “An inalienable part of these conditions (to find a diplomatic solution, editor’s note) is that the four regions belong to the Russian Federation”, affirmed Sergei Lavrov, specifying that Moscow should “of course” conquer the whole of these four territories which are currently not fully controlled by the Russian military.
These regions “must be freed from the threat of Nazification which they have endured for many years”, added Sergei Lavrov, taking up the justifications of the Kremlin which ensures that the Russian-speaking populations of Ukraine must be protected against supposed ” Nazis” in power in kyiv. “We are in no hurry, as Russian President Vladimir Putin said. We want to end as quickly as possible this war that the West has prepared and unleashed against us via Ukraine,” Sergei Lavrov added on television. Russian.
- The French Minister of the Armed Forces promises to further help Ukraine
“Presidents (Volodymyr) Zelensky and (Emmanuel) Macron asked […] to make proposals to them for the month of January to redefine a “common agenda on French military support”, Sébastien Lecornu specified during a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksiï Reznikov. He indicated that he had exchanges with the Ukrainian minister on the “tactical and strategic situation” on the ground and on “the needs of the Ukrainian army for the weeks to come.” The French minister met Volodymyr Zelensky during a working meeting at midday.
According to a press release from the Ukrainian presidency, “Volodymyr Zelensky informed Mr. Lecornu of the situation at the front and the urgent defense needs” of the Ukrainian army. “Other practical measures to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities with the support of France were discussed,” it also read. In front of the press, the French minister mentioned “the innovative fund of 200 million euros” which allows Ukraine to buy equipment directly from French industrialists, according to Ukraine’s priorities to deal with the Russian army.
Another topic of discussion between the two leaders: the problem of repairing Western military equipment damaged on the battlefield. “The maintenance of what has already been given to Ukraine is just as important as new equipment,” said Sébastien Lecornu. “The fight and anti-aircraft defense”, “artillery systems like the Caesars” (French), the supply of ammunition and armored vehicles, as well as the fight “against Iranian drones” are currently among the priorities of the Ukrainian army, argued Oleksiï Reznikov. Paris has said it is considering supplying kyiv with more surface-to-air missiles.
During the day, Sébastien Lecornu had laid a wreath in front of the “Wall of Heroes”, a memorial in kyiv dedicated to soldiers killed on the front since 2014.
- Cereals in the Black Sea: a new coordinator for the UN
The Sudanese Amir Mahmoud Abdulla, in office since August, is replaced by the Kuwaiti Abdullah Abdul Samad Dashti, a retired admiral of the armed forces of his country, announced in a press release the spokesperson for the Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres. “The Secretary-General is grateful to Mr. Abdulla for his oversight, hard work and commitment to implementing the Initiative, especially in difficult times,” the UN Secretary-General’s office said.
His successor, Abdullah Abdul Samad Dashti, a career soldier in the navy, was also in recent years Kuwait’s military attaché in Belgium and his country’s representative to NATO. This Black Sea Grain Initiative (the official name of the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports from Ukrainian ports) stems from an agreement sealed on July 22 and has helped alleviate the global food crisis caused by the war. It was renewed in mid-November for the four winter months.
- Putin’s New Nuclear Ships
Vladimir Putin participated this Thursday in the commissioning ceremony of several new warships, including a submarine capable of carrying nuclear missiles, swearing to produce more and praising the capabilities of his fleet. Among them, the Generalissimo Suvorov submarine, a nuclear submarine capable of launching atomic ballistic missiles. Another ship of the same Boreï A class, the Emperor Alexander III, has also been inaugurated and should soon begin sea trials.
“I insist that we will speed up and increase the volume of construction of ships of various types, equip them with the most modern weapon systems,” the Russian president said. “In a nutshell, it’s about doing everything to ensure the security of Russia, our national interests on the oceans of the world,” he promised.
