Russia said its air defence shot down 32 Ukrainian drones, including near Moscow, in one of the biggest strikes on central Russia in recent months, with casualties reported in the Belgorod region.
Russia’s defence ministry reported that the drones were destroyed over the Moscow, Bryansk, Orel and Kursk regions.
Rockets were shot down over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. At least two children were killed and several others injured, said the region’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov. Unverified videos on social media showed scenes of panic around an ice rink and shopping centre.
The governor of the Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz, said air defences were working overnight in the city of Bryansk, with two unstaffed aerial vehicles destroyed. According to him, there are no injuries.
In a rare acknowledgement of its activities in Ukraine, Russia’s defence ministry announced 50 group strikes and “one massive strike” from December 23 to December 29 on a range of Ukrainian military facilities.
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Ukraine says Russian strike killed over 50 in one of the deadliest attacks of the war
Ukraine says Russian strike killed over 50 in one of the deadliest attacks of the war
Some of the Russian bombardment hit critical infrastructure, but much of it was directed at civilian targets, including schools, houses and apartment blocks and a maternity hospital in Dnipro where a dozen women were in labour at the time of the strike.
The Russia attack, which included hypersonic, ballistic and cruise missiles, were widely condemned.
The UK immediately announced plans to ship about 200 air defence missiles to help Ukraine’s defensive efforts. Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov spoke with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin following Friday’s attacks, the US defence department said.
Belgian premier Alexander De Croo said he and European Council President Charles Michel will work between now and an extraordinary summit on February 1 to forge an agreement on aid to Ukraine among the 27 member states.
“Wars are won with industry,” De Croo told Le Soir newspaper, addressing Europe’s ability to supply sufficient weapons and ammunition to Kyiv. “The war industry is under way in Russia, while there is much more hesitation in Europe.”
In a post Saturday on social media platform X, Zelensky said “weapons in the hands of Ukrainians are always a means of protecting lives, and each manifestation of Russian terror repeatedly proves that we cannot delay assistance to those who stand against terror”.
Friday’s Kremlin attack was seen as retaliation for Ukraine’s destruction of the Russian landing ship Novocherkassk in Feodosia, Crimea, earlier in the week. It was also a reversion to the pattern of last winter, when Russian troops regularly bombarded Ukraine’s energy facilities, causing widespread power outages during the coldest months of the year.
The Russian strikes seemed to be the culmination of “several months of Russian experimentation with various drone and missile combinations, and efforts to test Ukrainian air defences”, US-based analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said.
“Russia was likely stockpiling missiles through fall/early winter 2023 to build a more diverse strike package and apply lessons learned over the course of recent recon and probing missions,” ISW added.
Separately, Russia said on Saturday it destroyed an unstaffed Ukrainian vessel heading toward the coast of the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.
Ukraine’s general staff reported another 10 Russian drones fired overnight, with five shot down. A missile was downed Saturday in the Zaporizhzhia area.