Also at the turn of the year there are heavy rocket attacks in the Ukraine war. Russia is to sign more than 100,000 new soldiers: the news ticker.
- dead and injured: Russia launches massive rocket attacks on Ukraine
- New wave of mobilization: Ukrainian intelligence expects to start in a few days
- Editor’s note: Read the latest developments from the Ukraine conflict in our news ticker. The information processed here Ukraine war come partly from the warring parties Russia and the Ukraine. They can therefore not be independently checked in part.
+++ 10.05 a.m.: The head of the military administration for the Kyiv region, Oleskiy Kuleba, said Russia had launched “several waves” of attacks using Iranian-made drones. “They target critical infrastructure facilities,” Kuleba said.
The Russian army launched aerial attacks on dozens of targets in Ukraine on New Year’s Eve and throughout Sunday. At least four people were killed in Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian general staff, Iranian-made Shahed 136 kamikaze drones were used in many cases.
News in the Ukraine war: infrastructure of Kyiv attacked
+++ 08.10 a.m.: The infrastructure was again damaged in attacks on Kyiv. There are electricity and heating failures, but the water supply is guaranteed, said Vitali Klitschko, mayor of the city, on Monday. It is the fifth night in a row that Ukraine has been attacked by Russian combat drones.
Kyiv attacked again by Russian army: “The danger in the Kyiv region persists”
Update from January 2nd, 6:35 a.m.: According to the military administration, the Ukrainian capital Kyiv was attacked again on Monday night. “The danger in the Kyiv region continues! Our anti-aircraft forces are working on the targets,” said Oleskiy Kuleba, head of the military administration of the Kyiv region. The air defense had been activated. The most important thing now is to keep calm and stay in the shelters until the air alert is over.
Moscow is running out of rockets – Selenskyj: There is fear in Russia
+++ 9.05 p.m.: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, has remarked that the unity of Ukrainians stands in stark contrast to the fear prevailing in Russia. He said so in a video speech. “The Russian terrorists are as pathetic in the new year as they were before. Our defenders were heroic before and they proved it on January 1,” said Zelenskyy. He also added that Ukraine reacts to any Russian attack and that these reactions are “very noticeable”. “You are scared. You can see that. And they are right to be afraid. Because they will lose,” said Zelenskyj. “Drones, missiles and other weapons will not help them. For we are united, and they are united only in their fear.”
News in the Ukraine war: Russian troops shell inhabited settlements in Cherson
+++ 7.20 p.m.: According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russian troops are shelling inhabited settlements in Kherson Oblast in order to destabilize the humanitarian situation and force the local population into so-called “voluntary evacuation”. The General Staff also reports that mobilization measures are being carried out in Crimea. Military commissariats have begun examining lists of people who have not yet taken part in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and are subject to call-up for mobilization in 2023. In addition, the Russian military continues to use civilian facilities for medical treatment of armed Russian soldiers.
News in the Ukraine war: Russia only has enough missiles for two major attacks
+++ 5.05 p.m.: Russia only has enough missiles left for two large-scale missile attacks on Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, announced on Telegram. According to Budanov, the Russian armed forces have recently reduced the number of missiles used in their attacks in order to continue simulating the intensity of these attacks. According to the secret service, a Russian missile attack requires one and a half to two months of preparation. Budanov stressed that by March the Russian Federation would be in a critical situation with its weapons.
News in the Ukraine war: Russia attacks a hotel in Kyiv on New Year’s Eve
+++ 4.10 p.m.: The Russian Ministry of Defense justified the numerous attacks on Kyiv on New Year’s Eve and on New Year’s Eve. According to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, the attacks were aimed at “Ukraine’s defense industrial complex”. The focus was on targets in which the “production of combat drones” would have been suspected. According to the Russian authority, the goals have been “achieved” so that Ukraine will no longer be able to “attack” Russia in the near future. Ukraine, on the other hand, says that a hotel where international journalists stayed was hit.
News in the Ukraine war: Attacks on Cherson on New Year’s Eve
+++ 2.20 p.m.: One person died in attacks on the liberated night of Cherson on New Year’s Eve. Another was injured. The news portal reports Ukrainska Pravda and refers to information from the head of the military administration of the region in southern Ukraine Yaroslav Yanushevych. The buildings of a children’s hospital were also damaged in the seven Russian attacks. According to Yanushevych, 700 window panes were also broken.
News in the Ukraine war: New Putin decree to increase the strength of the Russian army
+++ 1.35 p.m.: According to the Ukrainian Air Force, 45 kamikaze drones were shot down as part of the Russian attacks on Ukraine on New Year’s Eve. 13 of them in the last hours of the old year, 32 in the first of the new year. The targets of the attacks were all places in the capital region around Kyiv, like the news portal Kyiv Independent reported.
Despite many kamikaze drones being shot down, the Ukrainian authorities reported extensive damage to infrastructure. Debris from a Russian missile was probably found near the tracks of the Kiev Metro, which led to the closure of some stations on New Year’s morning. In the area around Kyiv, an unspecified infrastructure facility was also damaged.
New Putin decree to increase the strength of the Russian army
+++ 12.20 p.m.: At the beginning of the new year, a new decree came into force in Russia, which aims to increase the number of employees under contract in the Russian military to over two million people. According to a report, these include the German press agency around 1.15 million contract soldiers and conscripts, whose number has increased by 137,000 after the decree. The other military personnel are civilian personnel, such as administrative employees.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had already announced the creation of the new units in September, citing that the “NATO bloc” was threatening to move towards Russian borders. Most recently, Putin called up around 300,000 reservists for a partial mobilization, which led to loud protests and a mass exodus among Russian men. Secret service reports are also currently increasing, which predict that renewed mobilization could be imminent.
Ukraine-News: Klitschko calls on Germany to deliver Leopard 2 tanks
+++ 9.02 a.m.: The mayor of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, has demanded that Germany deliver Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. “It will depend crucially on Germany that Leopard 2 tanks are finally delivered. Without this type of tank, it will be difficult to recapture more areas in Ukraine,” Klitschko writes in a guest article in the picture on sunday.
The politician also expects a new attack on Kyiv. Russia is mobilizing more forces, up to 300,000 soldiers could tackle another attack on Ukraine. “Kyiv was a target and Kyiv remains a target,” writes Klitschko.
Update from Sunday, January 1st, 6:22 a.m.: Russia also launched an aerial attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, at the beginning of the new year. About half an hour after midnight (local time, 11:30 p.m. CET), the Russian attacks hit two districts of the city, as Mayor Vitali Klitschko explained on Sunday in the online service Telegram.
News about the Ukraine war: Russia is preparing for a decisive battle
First report from Friday, December 30th: According to British information, a Russian troop formation in a contested area in eastern Ukraine is likely to be given new leadership. Lieutenant-General Yevgeny Nikiforov is likely to be in the process of assuming command of Russia’s Western Forces Group (WGF), the UK MoD wrote in its regular intelligence update. He would therefore be at least the fourth commander at the head of the association since the beginning of the Ukraine war.
According to British assessments, the WGF almost certainly has the task of holding Russia’s right flank in the area around the cities of Kreminna and Swatove. The Ukrainian military reported progress near Kreminna on Thursday (December 29). An American think tank had previously announced that the Russian army was gathering troops in the Luhansk region and preparing for a decisive battle. (cas/ska/kas with dpa/AFP)