2023-12-30 06:45:56
Rescue workers at an affected site following several Russian missile attacks on the town of Dnirpo (Ukraine), December 29, 2023. RAFAEL YAGHOBZADEH FOR “THE WORLD”
Those Ukrainians who were not awakened by the explosions during the night saw a deluge of images of destruction flash across their screens on the morning of Friday, December 29. “Russia hit almost everywhere today. We have never seen so many projectiles appear simultaneously on our radars”, commented Yuri Ihnat, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force. According to a still provisional assessment, the wave of Russian bombings, of unprecedented scale, left 30 dead and more than 160 injured.
On his X feed, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky laconically listed the targets struck by Russian missiles, emphasizing their civilian nature: “A maternity hospital, educational institutions, a shopping center, multi-storey residential buildings and private houses, a commercial warehouse and parking lot, a noted The head of state. kyiv, Lviv, Odessa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia and other cities were hit. Unfortunately, the strikes caused deaths and injuries. (…) We will not fail to respond to terrorist attacks. And we will continue to fight for the security of our entire country, of every city and of every citizen. Russian terror must and will lose”a promis M. Zelensky.
His defense minister, Rustem Oumierov, estimated on his Facebook page that “For many months, the Russians have been stockpiling missiles for this specific purpose: attacks on apartment buildings, shopping centers, hospitals, on peaceful Ukrainian towns”. For him, recurrences are to be expected, taking into account “the reserves of missiles available to the aggressor State”.
Destructions following several Russian missile attacks on the town of Dnirpo (Ukraine), December 29, 2023. RAFAEL YAGHOBZADEH FOR “THE WORLD”
The Air Force spokesperson specified that the Russian army had used all types of long-range missiles in its arsenal: Soviet and recently designed missiles, hypersonic ballistic missiles, cruise missiles ( fired by aircraft) and anti-aircraft missiles converted into imprecise surface-to-surface missiles. All except the Kalibr, because it is fired from ships or submarines of a much diminished Black Sea Fleet.
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Saturate Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense
Around 3 a.m., 18 Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers took off, and around 6 a.m. launched at least 90 Kh-101/X-555/X-55 cruise missiles. At the same time, Tu-22M3 long-range bombers fired eight Kh-22/X-32 cruise missiles. Five Kinjals were also launched by MiG-31K fighters, the Air Force said in a statement. A total of 87 missiles and 27 drones were shot down, said the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Valery Zaluzhny, who noted that “critical infrastructure and industrial and military installations were attacked”.
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