The British Defense Ministry said in its periodic report on developments in the Russian war against Ukraine that the Russians try to launch massive missile attacks every 7-10 days, to deplete Ukraine’s air defences.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were still holding their defensive positions in Donbass. Zelensky added that his country’s forces have not lost their ability to attack and are still making little progress in eastern Ukraine.
Zelensky (AB)
As for airstrikes against power generators, the Ukrainian president stressed that his country is capable of stepping up its air defense early next year.
This comes as Ukrainian shelling with HIMIRS missiles targeted Alchevsk, Stakhnov and Bryanka regions in Luhansk province, and the shelling resulted in the destruction of a youth center, a cultural complex, a school building and a library, and it damaged 6 buildings and gas supplies, according to pro-Russian authorities in the town of Nova Kakhovka.
The Ukrainian military also shelled the city of Nova Kakhovka in Kherson province and caused damage to the power plant, which caused a power outage in the city.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said the backup power line to the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant nuclear power plant was cut off last night, due to damage caused by the bombing, and IAEA experts also said of explosions Friday near the nuclear power plant.
And Ukraine announced on Friday that it had repelled an attack with Russia-launched explosive drones, less than 24 hours after the massive bombing of power plants that deprived millions of Ukrainians of electricity.
Electricity rationing continues
Power outages remain widespread, while massive power rationing has been underway across the country for weeks.
In turn, the head of the military administration of the Ukrainian city of Kiev, Serhiy Popko, said that sirens have sounded 638 times in the capital since Moscow first launched its war on the country, with a state of emergency which has been going on for about 694 hours.
“That’s basically 29 days, almost a full calendar month, that citizens of the city have spent in shelters and bunkers,” Popko added.
2022 is the worst year
He explained that the capital was subjected to 52 air raids, killing 120 people, including five children, while 495 people were injured by missiles and cruise missiles.
Popko said more than 600 buildings were damaged in the attacks, noting that vital infrastructure in the capital was badly damaged.
“2022 was the worst year in Kiev’s modern history,” Popko added, adding that after Kiev repelled advancing Russian ground forces, the enemy escalated to a campaign of “aerial genocide.”
450 children were killed
Russian forces have killed 450 children and injured 872 others since the start of the war, according to a statement released by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office on the “Telegram” application and reported on Friday by the Ukrainian news agency “Ukrinform”.
“As of the morning of December 30, 2022, the official number of child victims has not changed, 450. The number of injured has risen to 872,” the statement read.
For its part, Russian authorities announced on Friday that it had decided to exempt soldiers and state employees deployed in Ukraine from income tax, as part of its efforts to rally support for its military operation against its neighbour.
In the context, US State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed that the Biden administration is concerned about the rapprochement in relations between Moscow and Beijing.
Price added that China claims neutrality, but its behavior demonstrates the exact opposite, as it continues to invest in close relations with Russia since Russia announced military operations in Ukraine.
