Kiev, Ukraine:
Kiev said on Sunday it had destroyed 21 of 49 Iranian-made drones fired after Russia vowed revenge for what it called a “terrorist attack” on a border town that left 24 dead.
The Ukrainian Air Force said the “Shahed” drones mainly targeted “the front line of defense, as well as civilian, military and infrastructure facilities in the front line areas.”
Six guided missiles also targeted the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Kiev said in a statement on Telegram, without specifying whether they had hit their targets.
Oleg Sinegubov, the head of Kharkiv's military government, said 28 civilians were injured in the attack on the city, including two teenagers and a foreign citizen.
Residential buildings, offices and cafes were hit in the latest overnight attacks, Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said.
“On the eve of the New Year, the Russians want to intimidate our city, but we are not afraid,” he said.
The new Russian attacks came a day after the deadliest attack on civilians in Russia since the conflict began in February 2022.
The official death toll has risen to 24 with 108 injured in Belgorod – just 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Ukrainian border, which has been repeatedly hit by what Moscow says is indiscriminate shelling.
The two sides took turns accusing each other of targeting civilian areas in their shared border region over the weekend.
The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on Sunday that one person had been killed by Ukrainian shelling in a village close to the border.
'Blame Putin'
Moscow said the Belgorod attack used controversial cluster munitions, telling an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that Kiev had targeted a sports centre, an ice rink and a university.
Russian envoy Vasily Nebenzya called it a “deliberate, indiscriminate attack on a civilian target.”
Ukraine's allies have countered that responsibility ultimately lay with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion of the neighboring country almost two years ago.
“If Russia wants anyone to be blamed for the deaths of Russians in this war, it should start with President Putin,” said British UN envoy Thomas Phipps.
Putin gave his traditional New Year's Eve speech on Sunday, praising Russian soldiers on the front line and calling for unity despite “difficult tasks”.
“To all those on duty, on the front lines of the struggle for truth and justice,” Putin said, “you are our heroes. Our hearts are with you. We are proud of you, we admire your courage.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will also give his New Year's speech later.
January 1, day of mourning
The attack on Belgorod came a day after Ukraine said a barrage of Russian rocket attacks on several cities, including the capital, had killed 39 people.
Schools, a maternity hospital, shopping arcades and apartment blocks were among the buildings hit by Friday's barrage, one of the most violent attacks since the start of the war.
Local authorities said Ukraine was still sifting through the rubble on Saturday when new attacks hit the Kherson, Zaporizhia and Chernigiv regions.
Another three people were killed on Saturday by Russian attacks across Ukraine, officials said.
Jan. 1 would be declared a day of mourning in the capital Kiev, where 19 people have been killed, city officials said.
The Russian military said it had carried out “fifty group attacks and one mass attack” on military facilities in Ukraine over the past week, adding that “all targets had been hit.”
The United Nations condemned the attacks and said they must stop “immediately.”
Ukraine is urging Western allies to maintain military support.
“Next year will be a time of many decisions – global decisions. And Ukraine must be able to influence these in order to achieve its goals,” Zelensky said in his evening speech on Saturday.
“We will fight for our influence, for justice for Ukraine, and I am grateful to all the leaders who are helping, who have been with us since February 24 and will be with us in 2024.”
Britain announced it would send hundreds more air defense missiles to Kiev after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “We must continue to support Ukraine – for as long as it takes.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)