Russia plans to 'exhaust' Ukraine with prolonged attacks - Zelensky - BBC

Ukraine's president says Russia is readying a protracted run of drone attacks successful a bid to demoralise Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky said helium had received quality reports suggesting that Moscow would motorboat the attacks utilizing Iranian-made Shahed drones.

It comes aft Ukraine carried retired a onslaught that it said killed hundreds of Russian soldiers successful the Donbas region.

In an highly uncommon admittance of battlefield losses, Russia said the onslaught killed 63 of its troops.

Speaking from Kyiv successful his nightly address, Mr Zelensky said Russia planned to "exhaust" Ukraine with a prolonged question of drone attacks.

"We indispensable guarantee - and we volition bash everything for this - that this extremity of terrorists fails similar each the others," helium said. "Now is the clip erstwhile everyone progressive successful the extortion of the entity should beryllium particularly attentive."

Russian drone strikes connected Ukraine look to person accrued successful caller days, with Moscow launching attacks connected cities and powerfulness stations crossed the state implicit the past 3 nights.

Mr Zelensky said Ukrainian aerial defences had already changeable down implicit 80 Iranian-made drones successful the opening days of 2023.

Russia has been targeting Ukraine's vigor infrastructure for respective months, destroying powerfulness stations and plunging millions into acheronian during the country's freezing winter.

Elsewhere, Ukraine has confirmed it carried retired a onslaught successful the occupied portion of Donetsk, which it earlier claimed killed 400 Russian troops.

Russian officials contested the figure, saying lone 63 troops were killed. Neither assertion has been verified, and entree to the tract is restricted.

The Ukrainian onslaught connected New Year's Day deed a gathering successful the metropolis of Makiivka, wherever Russian forces were stationed.

It is highly uncommon for Moscow to corroborate immoderate battlefield casualties.

But this was specified a deadly attack, says the BBC's Russia exertion Steve Rosenberg, that staying soundless astir apt wasn't an option.

It is the highest fig of deaths acknowledged by Moscow successful a azygous incidental since the warfare began 10 months ago.

In a connection connected Monday, Russia's defence ministry said Ukrainian forces fired six rockets utilizing the US-made Himars rocket strategy astatine a gathering lodging Russian troops. Two of them were changeable down, it added.

Igor Girkin, a pro-Russian commentator, earlier said that hundreds had been killed and wounded, though the nonstop fig was chartless due to the fact that of the ample fig inactive missing.

The gathering itself was "almost wholly destroyed", helium said.

He added that the victims were chiefly mobilised troops - that is, caller conscripts, alternatively than those who chose to fight. He besides said ammunition was stored successful the aforesaid gathering arsenic the soldiers, making the harm worse.

"Almost each of the subject instrumentality was besides destroyed, which stood close adjacent to the gathering without immoderate disguise whatsoever," helium wrote connected Telegram.

Despite his hawkish stance, helium regularly criticises the Russian subject enactment and their tactics.

Several Russian lawmakers person besides powerfully criticised subject commanders implicit the attack, saying commanders indispensable beryllium held to relationship for allowing troops to ore successful an unprotected gathering wrong scope of Ukrainian rockets, wherever ammunition whitethorn besides person been stored.

Sergei Mironov - a erstwhile president of the Russian Senate - said it was evident than neither quality nor aerial defence had worked properly.

According to the Ukrainian military's earlier statement, 300 were wounded successful summation to the estimated 400 killed. Ukraine's service claims, astir daily, to person killed dozens, sometimes hundreds, of soldiers successful attacks.

A aboriginal connection from the Ukrainian military's wide unit said "up to 10 units of force subject equipment" were "destroyed and damaged" successful the strikes, and that "the losses of unit of the occupiers are being specified".

Ukraine has not confirmed the strikes were carried retired with Himars missiles, maintaining a long-held strategy of not releasing circumstantial details astir its attacks.