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Blasts heard in Kyiv amid reports of over 100 missiles incoming across the country
If you’re just joining us: Ukraine is reporting a fresh Russian missile strike on Thursday morning as blasts are heard in several cities. The authorities have said that the blasts come from air defence systems shooting down incoming missiles.
Presidential office adviser Oleksiy Arestovych wrote on Facebook that more than 100 missiles were incoming, in several waves, and air raid alarms could be heard across the country.
Blasts were heard in Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Odesa, according to a Reuters correspondent and local media reports. Power cuts were announced in the Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions, aimed at minimising potential damage to the energy infrastructure.
Key events
Isobel Koshiw is in Ukraine for the Guardian, and writes on Twitter “Three people hospitalised in Kyiv, acc to Klitschko, including a 14-year-old, after Russia launched another mass attack across Ukraine. More rockets are on the way, according to several regional heads. I’m on the train and no delay so far.”
The mayor of Kyiv, Vitaliy Klitschko, has increased the injury count in Ukraine’s capital this morning to three, saying that among them is a 14-year-old girl.
Here is an image that has been sent to us over the newswires from Ukraine this morning showing Ukrainian air defence system intercepting a rocket launched by Russian forces against Kyiv.
There are unconfirmed reports from journalists on the ground in Kyiv that there are warnings that drones have been launched at the city from the north-west, in the direction of Belarus.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, which is one of the regions that Russia claims to have annexed, has posted the following situational update to Telegram. He said:
The night in Donetsk region passed with numerous shellings, but for the first time in a very long time — without civilian casualties.
Odesa governor: 21 missiles shot down by air defence over the region
Maksym Marchenko, governor of Odesa, has posted to Telegram to claim that Ukrainian air defences have shot down 21 missiles over the region. He posted:
Air defence units shot down 21 missiles over the region!!! Fragments of one of the enemy rockets fell into a residential building, fortunately there were no casualties. Unfortunately, as a result of the hits, there is damage to the energy infrastructure, which is why there are emergency power outages in the region. All services are on the ground and working.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova is giving her weekly press briefing. So far she has said that once Ukraine was one of the richest republics of the Soviet Union, but that it has become one of the poorest countries in Europe. She has accused the US of treating Ukrainian people as expendable in the American confrontation with Russia. She has criticised Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for participating in photo shoots and appearing around the world making speeches as part of a Washington PR campaign.
She said lately the US has been trying to present Ukraine as democracy fighters and now as peacemakers while pumping Kyiv full of weapons and Nato command structures amid the killing of children. “We can’t talk about the serious peace initiative of Kyiv and its western sponsors,” she said, as “they don’t have anything serious about them”.
She has gone on to list a series of human rights violations within Ukraine reported by the UN’s OHCHR, and said that the tally of abuse should not be counted from 214 February this year, when Russia launched its latest offensive on Ukraine, but should also take into account the previous eight years where she claims pro-Russian elements in the east of Ukraine were abused by the government in Kyiv.
She is now talking about disputes between the Russian and Ukrainian branches of the orthodox church, claiming “the Kyiv regime does not care about the feelings of millions of believers.”
Two people rescued from damaged house in Kyiv after Russian missile attacks
The mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, has posted to Telegram to confirm that:
So far, two people have been rescued from a damaged private house. Medics treated them on the spot and hospitalised them. Rescuers continue search and rescue operations. Rocket debris also damaged a car on one of the central streets.
Oleksiy Kuleba, governor of Kyiv, has posted to Telegram to say that “The air alert continues. Air defence is working. We do not relax. Let’s be vigilant. Russia will not intimidate us.”
As the missile attack continues on Ukraine this morning – which appears to have been one of the largest salvoes fired by Russia for several weeks – Russian ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova has begun her weekly press briefing.
She has opened with a new year’s message saying she wishes everyone “warmth, hope, faith, resilience and light,” and adding “we do not know what the future year holds for us, but I believe we can make it filled with light … and fulfil our duties for each other.”
She is now giving a history lesson about Ukraine’s membership of the Soviet Union. I will continue to listen in and bring you any key quotes.
The Euromaiden Press news service is carrying unconfirmed reports that damage in Kyiv from this morning’s attack has been caused by the wreckage of downed missiles, affecting houses, an “industrial enterprise” and a children’s playground.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the office of president of Ukraine, has reported on Telegram that in the Odesa region “Fragments of a cruise missile fell into a residential building. The consequences are [being] clarified.”
The claims are as yet unconfirmed.
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