“Volker Turk urges immediate steps to de-escalate, ensure protection of civilians and respect international law.”
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said 135 people had been injured in the latest missile and drone attacks, including 61 in and around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city in the northeast and 17 in and around the capital, Kyiv.
4 killed as Russia launches hypersonic missiles at Ukraine
4 killed as Russia launches hypersonic missiles at Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said rescue operations continued into the late evening as the assaults also caused widespread damage and hit power supplies.
“Russia will answer for every life [that it has] taken away,” Zelensky said on Telegram.
Zelensky, in his nightly video address, later said Russia had deployed almost 300 missiles and more than 200 drones in attacks over the past three days. The latest assaults, he said were intended to cause maximum destruction.
“The trajectories have been specially calculated by the enemy to cause as much damage as possible,” he said. “No other country has yet repelled similar attacks by combined drones and missiles, including ballistic missiles.”
Several Western leaders and foreign diplomats in Kyiv said it was critical for Ukraine to receive more support.
Ukrainian air defence works well but Ukraine must get more help. New Year’s celebrations are over and the West must get serious and act now,” Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics wrote on X.
Ukraine downed all 10 incoming “Kinzhal” missiles fired in the latest attack as well as 59 of the 70 cruise missiles and all three Kalibr cruise missiles, army chief General Valeriy Zaluzhny said.
4 killed as Russia launches hypersonic missiles at Ukraine
4 killed as Russia launches hypersonic missiles at Ukraine
But he added: “There is no reason to believe that the enemy will stop here. Therefore, we need more systems and munitions for them.”
Klitschko said gas pipelines had been damaged in Kyiv’s Pechersky district, and electricity and water had been cut off in several districts. Heating and water supplies were damaged in Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
The power cuts revived memories of last winter when air strikes on the energy grid caused frequent power cuts.
Additional reporting by Reuters