NEW YEAR IN THE TRENCHES
On Twitter, the US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, said, "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 toasted the New Year on the front line in Ukraine's eastern province of Donetsk. One soldier, Pavlo Pryzhehodskiy, 27, played a song he had written on a guitar after 12 of his comrades were killed 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 that cannot ever be forgiven. That is why the New Year is sad."
In a nearby trench, soldier Oleh Zahrodskiy, 49, said he had volunteered after his son was called up as a reservist. Now, his son is in hospital, fighting for his life with a brain injury, while his father mans the front.
"It is very tough now," he said, holding back tears.
"HAPPY NEW YEAR"
Kyiv's police chief, Andrii Nebytov, posted a photo on the Telegram app, showing what was described as a piece of a drone used in an attack on the capital, with a handwritten sign on it in Russian reading "Happy New Year".
"This wreckage is not at the front, where fierce battles are taking place, this is here, on a sports grounds, where children play," Nebytov said.
Russia has flattened Ukrainian cities and killed thousands of civilians since Putin ordered his invasion in February, saying Ukraine was an artificial state whose pro-Western outlook threatened Russia's security.
Russia, which denies targeting civilians, has since claimed to have annexed about a fifth of Ukraine.
Ukraine has fought back with Western military support, driving Russian forces from more than half the territory they seized. In recent weeks, the front lines have been largely static, with thousands of soldiers dying in intense warfare.
Russia says its aerial strikes aim to reduce Ukraine's ability to fight; Kyiv says they have no military purpose and are intended to hurt civilians, a war crime.
"The main thing is the fate of Russia," Putin said in a New Year's Eve speech to a group dressed in military uniform, instead of the event's normal backdrop of the Kremlin walls.
"Defence of the fatherland is our sacred duty to our ancestors and descendants. Moral, historical righteousness is on our side."
A Ukrainian drone attack damaged a power facility in Russia's Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, its governor said on Monday, adding that there were no casualties.
Russia said last week that it shot down a Ukrainian drone close to one of long-range bomber bases deep inside its territory and that three air force personnel had been killed.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the report.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiiAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5jaGFubmVsbmV3c2FzaWEuY29tL3dvcmxkL3J1c3NpYS10YXJnZXRzLWNyaXRpY2FsLWluZnJhc3RydWN0dXJlLWRyb25lLWF0dGFja3Mta3lpdi11a3JhaW5lLWFuZC1pdHMtcmVnaW9uLW9mZmljaWFscy0zMTc4MzE20gEA?oc=5
2023-01-02 05:37:42Z
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