Several dead and injured
Russia fires hypersonic and “many” other missiles
January 2, 2024, 7:57 a.m
Is it retaliation for Belgorod, as Kremlin chief Putin announced? Russia is attacking Ukraine and there is an air alert throughout the country. “It is one of the largest air strikes on Kyiv,” writes journalist Trubetskoy. However, the massive attacks began long before Belgorod.
According to authorities, at least four people are killed in massive Russian air strikes in Ukraine. Mayor Vitali Klitschko and the local public prosecutor’s office said an elderly woman and a couple were killed in the capital Kiev and the surrounding area. Another person is killed in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, authorities there report.
One day after the Russian announcement that it would intensify the attacks, according to Ukrainian information, “many” rockets were fired towards Kiev during the night. The residents of the capital should definitely stay in shelters for the time being, the Ukrainian Air Force said. “Many rockets” are heading towards Kiev.
Russia also used several hypersonic missiles. The Russian Telegram channel “Two Majors” wrote: “The Kinschal missiles (11 in total) are fired every few minutes. This is the first time that such a massive use of this type of weapon has been observed.” The Ukrainian Air Force also confirmed that Russia had fired several hypersonic missiles.
Shortly beforehand, the Air Force had already triggered air alerts across the entire country. “A total of 16 Tu-95MS strategic bombers are in the air. Do not ignore the air alert! Go to the shelters,” the Air Force said in the Telegram online service.
“Quite scary”
Explosions had already been heard in Kiev early in the morning. According to the city administration, the army tried to repel a Russian drone attack around 2 a.m. local time. “The debris of a drone is burning in an open area in the Desnyansky district,” said Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko. He added that rescue workers were on the scene. There are power outages in several parts of the city, Klitschko wrote on Telegram. Civil infrastructure facilities were hit; a gas pipe was damaged. Problems with the water supply were also reported.
Journalist Denis Trubetskoy wrote on the Platform X: “It’s one of the largest air raids on Kyiv that the Ukrainian capital is currently experiencing. It’s really extremely unpleasant here in the northwest. 15 explosions or so heard so far, small power outages, fire truck sirens, everything that goes with it. And it works further.” A little later he added: “This is the hardest morning I have experienced so far in Kyiv, in terms of air strikes. First drones, then cruise missiles, then the highest number of Kinschal aeroballistic missiles and now cruise missiles again.” There were a few moments of shock “when it was quite scary”.
Dozens of drones fended off
Air strikes were also reported from other parts of the country. According to initial authorities, one person was killed in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv; more than 20 people were injured. The mayor of Mykolaiv in the south of the country said the Ukrainian air force had shot down drones whose debris caused a fire. The air force said it intercepted 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones during the night.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would increase attacks on military targets in Ukraine in response to Kiev’s attack on the Russian city of Belgorod. In the attack on Belgorod on Saturday, 25 people were killed, including five children.
However, at the end of last year – before the attack on Belgorod – there was a major Russian attack on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure. Dozens of people died and more than a hundred were injured. Russia shelled the neighboring country with almost 160 rockets, cruise missiles and drones of various types in just one night. The attack shortly before the New Year was the worst since the beginning of the war.
“It’s not revenge,” writes military expert Carlo Masala about the recent Russian attacks on X. “Such attacks require planning and coordination that takes days. Revenge would also mean that this attack would not happen if the attacks did in Belgorod*. And we know from last winter that that’s not true.”