Putin greets the New Year with attacks on Ukrainian capital of Kyiv - The Washington Post

In the address, which was broadcast astatine midnight connected Russian authorities tv successful enactment with the country’s eleven antithetic clip zones, Putin said Russia was warring successful Ukraine to support its “motherland” and called 2022 “a twelvemonth of hard, indispensable decisions” and “fateful events” that had laid the instauration of Russia’s aboriginal and independence.

Set against a backdrop of Russian subject work members, alternatively of the emblematic wintry vista of the Kremlin, Putin’s code marked a important displacement successful tone, much combative and nationalistic, alternatively of festive and celebratory.

In the nine-minute connection — the longest New Year’s code successful Putin’s two-decade regularisation — helium thanked the Russian service for its “strength of tone and courage,” earlier launching into a tirade against the West, which helium has repeatedly blamed for provoking the offensive.

“The West lied astir bid but was preparing for aggression” and is “cynically utilizing Ukraine and its radical to weaken and disagreement Russia,” Putin said. “We person ne'er and volition ne'er let anyone to bash this to us.”

As the archetypal footage of the code was broadcast, dozens of missiles rained down connected Kyiv and different regions successful Ukraine. Several explosions were heard successful Kyiv, and a Washington Post writer saw from her flat model what appeared to beryllium a Ukrainian aerial defence rocket intercepting a Russian missile. It was unclear if the dependable of the explosions were from the aerial defence systems oregon missiles hitting targets.

“The violent authorities erstwhile again shows its cynicism. Even connected New Year’s Eve, it continues to motorboat monolithic rocket strikes,” Oleksiy Kuleba, the determination politician of Kyiv, wrote connected Telegram. Kuleba said determination were nary injuries successful the onslaught but a fig of “civilian objects were damaged by debris,” adding that “Russia fires missiles due to the fact that it knows that for america it is the New Year, and for them it is the last.”

Saturday’s onslaught follows a monolithic airstrike 2 days earlier, 1 of the largest since the opening of the invasion, successful what is becoming an intensifying conflict betwixt Russian rocket and Ukrainian aerial defenses, arsenic Kyiv tries to thwart Moscow’s attempts to destruct captious Ukrainian infrastructure.

The attacks bespeak that Putin has nary volition of letting up his run to permission Ukrainians without light, vigor and h2o this wintertime portion Russian advances on the beforehand lines successful Ukraine’s eastbound and southbound person crushed to a halt.

Despite feverish efforts by Ukrainian engineers to repair captious vigor infrastructure aft each attack, each portion of the state has been deed by regular powerfulness outages, arsenic officials ration energy to debar overloading the electrical grid.

On Saturday, Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko confirmed that respective explosions had rocked the capital, causing extended harm and 1 death. Klitschko wrote connected Telegram that astatine slightest 20 radical had been injured, including a Japanese journalist, and that 16 were hospitalized. Post reporters successful Kyiv observed that much residential areas appeared to person been deed than successful erstwhile strikes.

Valery Zaluzhny, commandant successful main of the Ukrainian military, said Saturday connected Telegram that Ukrainian aerial defenses had destroyed 12 retired of 20 cruise missiles fired by Russia from the Caspian Sea portion and “land-based” locations. Six were destroyed wrong Kyiv, 5 successful Zhytomyr and 1 successful Khmelnytskyi.

In Thursday’s attack, Ukrainian officials said they had intercepted 54 retired of 69 fired Russian missiles and each 16 were destroyed successful Kyiv. The Kyiv subject medication besides posted connected its authoritative Telegram transmission that 7 “rockets and force drones” had been destroyed, but it did not specify however galore missiles were fired astatine the capital.

The Post could not independently verify the figures from Ukrainian authorities.

To bolster Ukraine’s aerial defence capabilities, the United States has delivered 2 of 8 promised National Advanced Surface to Air Missile systems, oregon NASAMs, portion Germany provided an Infrared Imaging System Tail system. Washington has besides pledged to proviso a Patriot rocket system, 1 of its astir advanced, though it is unclear erstwhile it volition beryllium capable to beryllium deployed successful Ukraine.

Earlier connected Saturday, respective Russian officials gave their ain optimistic New Year’s statements, contempt large battlefield losses that person shaped the caller stages of the war. Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that successful the last minutes of the twelvemonth Russian soldiers were continuing to “heroically support their fatherland.”

In his ain New Year’s code Saturday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the country’s aerial defence forces and soldiers warring connected the beforehand lines, and said that Saturday’s onslaught was not “the extremity of the year” but “the summary of the destiny of Russia itself.”

“This warfare that you are waging, Russia, it is not with NATO, arsenic your propagandists lie. It is not for humanities reasons,” Zelensky said. “Your person wants to amusement that helium has the subject down him and that helium is successful front. But helium is conscionable hiding. He hides down the military, down missiles, down the walls of his residences and palaces.”

“He hides down you and burns your state and your future. No 1 volition ever forgive you for this terror,” helium continued. “Ukraine volition ne'er forgive.”

Ebel reported from London. Isabelle Khurshudyan successful Kyiv contributed to this report.