January 1 and 2 Russian missile attacks
On January 2, as a result of a massive missile attack on Kyiv, two people were killed and 49 were injured, announced the mayor of Kyiv, Vitaliy Klitschko. Additionally, as of 16:00 local time, 43 injured individuals have been hospitalised. According to the Kyiv Regional State Administration, two more people have been killed in the Kyiv region.
Overnight, Russians attacked the Kyiv region and continued a massive missile attack in the morning. According to the Kyiv Regional State Administration, the fall of debris damaged five residential buildings in Vyshneve city. A number of private houses and over 60 cars were damaged in local communities. Falling debris also caused a fire in an unfinished church; several enterprises and warehouse facilities were also damaged. One of the regional medical institutions was also hit. A number of local communities in Brovary, Bucha, Fastiv, and Vyshhorod districts in the Kyiv region have been experiencing power supply issues.
Valeriy Zaluzhny, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, announced in a statement that on the night of January 2, Russians launched 99 missiles on Ukraine. According to Zaluzhny, 72 of them were successfully destroyed. Zaluzhny said that Russians targeted civilian and critical infrastructure, industrial, and military objects, with the Ukrainian capital being the main aim of the Russian strike. The first wave of Russian attacks consisted of 35 Shahed kamikaze drones, which were launched from the southeast direction and with the subsequent movement through different regions of Ukraine. All of the shaheds were reportedly destroyed. Vitaliy Klitschko reported that on the morning of January 2, the Air Defence Forces destroyed 61 missiles in the skies over Kyiv, including 10 Russian Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles.
Additionally, on the morning of January 2, Russian occupation forces launched a massive attack on Kharkiv, hitting the city’s residential districts. Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, reported that Russians used Iskander-M missiles, killing one and injuring at least 52 people as of 16:00 local time. According to Syniehubov, residential buildings, utility structures, and other civil infrastructure in the city have been damaged, and there are burning vehicles.
According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, as of 17:00 local time, 5 people were killed, and 119 were injured across Ukraine as a result of Russia’s earlier missile attack.
December 30-31 Russian attacks
On the evening of December 31 and the night of January 1, Mykola Oleshchuk, the Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, said that the Russians launched a record number of Shahed kamikaze drones against Ukraine — 90 drones. 87 out of them were successfully shot down. The Air Force also added that the attack was carried out in waves from four directions: from two locations in temporarily occupied Crimea, Cape Chauda and Balaklava, as well as from Kursk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia.
Additionally, the Russians launched four guided S-300 anti-aircraft missiles on the Kharkiv region, three anti-radar missiles, Kh-31, and one Kh-59. Attacks were launched from the temporarily occupied territories in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Also, on January 1, Russians launched a wave of Shahed kamikaze drones against the city, hitting a residential in Odesa, a multi-story building, killing one and injuring three people.
On the evening of December 30, the Russian army launched a strike on the Kharkiv city centre, damaging residential buildings and a hotel. According to preliminary data, 16 people were injured. Kharkiv’s mayor, Igor Terekhov, reported that the Russians targeted the city 16 times.
110 missiles in one night: the largest Russian attack since the start of a full-scale invasion
Earlier, on the night of December 29, 2023, Russians launched the largest missile attack on Ukraine since the beginning of a full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. A total of 110 missiles of all types and a large number of Shahed kamikaze drones were launched against Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Sumy, and Cherkasy regions. This time, the Russians deliberately targeted residential areas and social infrastructure objects. In total, dozens of people were killed, and over 160 were injured.
“They targeted a maternity hospital, educational institutions, a shopping centre, multi-story buildings, private houses, a commercial warehouse and a parking lot. They aimed at Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and other cities. Today, Russia is using almost every weapon it possesses in its arsenal: ‘Kinzhals,’ S-300, cruise missiles, and UAVs. Strategic bombers launched Kh-101/Kh-505. Approximately 110 missiles were fired, and the majority were intercepted,” wrote President Zelensky on his social media channels.
On Monday, January 1, the Kyiv City Administration reported that one more body was found under the rubble in Kyiv, thus increasing the number of killed in a Russian missile attack on Kyiv on December 29 to 29 people.
