What the Russian communique says about the New Year’s attacks in Ukraine – “Kiev’s plans for terrorist attacks were foiled”, it is emphasized
The Russian military said today that the bombings that hit several Ukrainian cities including Kiev yesterday on New Year’s Eve were aimed at drone manufacturing facilities and to prevent planned “terrorist attacks”.
“On December 31, 2022, the Russian Armed Forces conducted a long-range air strike against Ukrainian defense industry facilities involved in the production of offensive drones used to carry out terrorist attacks against Russia,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.
“The Kiev regime’s plans to carry out terrorist attacks against Russia in the near future have been thwarted”the announcement emphasizes.
Moscow often describes operations carried out by the Ukrainian military on Russian soil or at Russian installations in Ukraine as “terrorist actions”.
The Russian military also stressed that it would continue its offensive in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, where most of the fighting is currently concentrated.
Russian strikes targeting Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Saturday left three dead and 50 injured, according to the latest Ukrainian authorities’ tally.
At least 45 drone attacks on New Year’s Eve
Russia launched attacks against Ukraine overnight with 45 drones, the Ukrainian military announced today on New Year’s Day.
All Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones, or “kamikaze drones” as they are called, were destroyed by the Ukrainian air defense system, the Ukrainian armed forces announced.
Russia uses these drones under the name Geran to cover up Iranian involvement. Russia and Iran have long cooperated militarily.
Shahed-136s first appeared in the war in September. Although described as kamikaze drones, these are small “cruise missiles” with relatively limited destructive capacity given their payload (50 kg).
Kyiv police chief Andriy Nebitov posted a photo on Facebook showing the remains of a drone with the words “Happy New Year” in Russian.
“That’s all you need to know about the terror state and its army,” he commented.
AFP journalists heard explosions ringing out over Kyiv less than an hour after the arrival of 2023 and after yesterday’s Russian shelling of Kyiv that left one dead and dozens injured.
Russia also fired 20 missiles at targets in Ukraine on New Year’s Eve, according to the Ukrainian military, but most were intercepted.
For their part, pro-Russian separatist authorities in eastern Ukraine reported the death of a civilian in today’s Ukrainian shelling in Yasinuvata in the Donetsk region.
RES-EMP
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