In the early morning of Friday December 29, Russia launched a large series of strikes on several cities across the whole of Ukraine, targeting in particular Kiev, the capital, as well as Kharkiv (north-east), Dnipro (east) , Lviv (west) or Odessa (south). According to a provisional assessment by Ukrainian officials, these strikes causedAt least 12 deaths in six different regions of the country, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said. Five people were killed in the Dnipropetrovsk region (central-east), two in Odessa (south), two in Kiev, one in Lviv (west), one in Zaporizhia (south) and one in Kharkiv (northeast), detailed the minister on social networks. Follow our live stream.
158 missiles launched, including 114 destroyed by the Ukrainian army. “The enemy used 158 means of air attack against Ukraine last night: missiles of different types and drones”the Air Force said on the Telegram network, adding that it had destroyed 114 targets. “Today, Russia has used almost every type of weapon in its arsenal”for his part commented the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Ukraine calls for “more aid and resources”. “We are doing everything possible to strengthen our air shield,” Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, said Friday morning. “But the world must see that we need more help and means to stop this terror”he added, in a message published on the social network Telegram, calling for help from the international community.
The whole country on alert. A nationwide air alert was activated around 7 a.m. (local hour) while explosions were heard in kyiv where, according to its mayor, Vitali Klitschko, the “anti-aircraft defense is actively working.” On Thursday, Russian strikes left three dead and nine injured in two villages in the Zaporizhia region, in southern Ukraine, according to local authorities.
Ukrainian drone shot down in Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday that it had destroyed a Ukrainian drone above the Kursk region, north of the Ukrainian border. MToday, Moscow confirmed that one of its ships had been damaged in an attack by kyiv in annexed Crimea.