Ukrainians rejoiced from their balconies as their air defences shot Russian missiles and drones out of the sky in the early hours of 2023, as Moscow welcomed the new year by striking civilian sites across Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced on Sunday evening that Ukrainian soldiers shot down 45 Iranian-made Sahed drones fired by Russia on the first night of the year, applauding Ukrainians for showing thanks to the army and one another.
“Drones, missiles, everything else will not help them,” he said of the Russians. “Because we stand united. They are united only by fear.”
In contrast to Zelenskiy’s earlier message of hope, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s severe New Year’s speech signalled no pause in his assault on Ukraine.
As sirens wailed in Kyiv, some residents yelled from their balconies, “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!”
Fragments from the late-night attack caused little damage in the capital’s centre, and preliminary reports showed no injuries or fatalities, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko on social media. Earlier on Saturday, attacks on residential buildings and a hotel in the capital killed at least one person and injured more than 20 others.
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said on Twitter: “Russia coldly and cowardly attacked Ukraine in the early hours of the new year. But Putin still does not seem to understand that Ukrainians are made of iron.”
Troops welcomed the new year on the battle lines in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Province. Pavlo Pryzhehodskiy, 27, a soldier, played a song he wrote at the front on his guitar after 12 of his buddies were slain in a single night.
“It is sad that instead of meeting friends, celebrating and giving gifts to one another people were forced to seek shelter, some were killed,” he told Reuters. “It is a huge tragedy. It is a huge tragedy that cannot ever be forgiven. That is why the New Year is sad.”
Soldier Oleh Zahrodskiy, 49, claimed he signed up as a volunteer after his son was called up to fight as a reservist in a neighbouring front line trench. His son was now in a hospital in the southern city of Dnipro, struggling for his life after suffering a brain damage, while his father remained on the front lines.
“It is very tough now,” he said, holding back tears.
