Russia-Ukraine battle dwell: A minimum of 13 killed and 18 injured as Moscow launches wave of missile strikes throughout Ukraine | Ukraine

The British prime minister has posted his help for Ukraine on social media following the wave of Russian missile strikes in a single day.

Rishi Sunak stated: “These widespread assaults on Ukraine’s cities present Putin will cease at nothing to attain his purpose of eradicating freedom and democracy.”

The US ambassador to Ukraine has shared an image of her cellphone display exhibiting quite a few essential air raid alert messages.

Bridget Brink stated in a publish on X:

That is what Ukrainians see on their telephones this morning: and because of this, tens of millions of males, ladies, and youngsters are in bomb shelters as Russia fires missiles throughout the nation.

Listed here are a number of the newest photos popping out of Ukraine on the information wires.

Dying toll from Russia’s missile assault on Ukraine rises to 13

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has stated Russia launched about 110 missiles in a single day in addition to drones towards Ukrainian targets in what seemed to be one of many greatest barrages of the yr.

He stated a lot of the incoming missiles and drones had been shot down however a minimum of seven civilians had been killed and an unknown variety of folks had been buried beneath rubble. Ukrainian officers stated scores had been injured.

Zelenskiy stated the Kremlin’s forces used all kinds of weapons, together with ballistic and cruise missiles.

Ukrainian air power spokesman Yurii Ihnat stated Russia “apparently launched all the pieces they’ve” towards targets throughout Ukraine.

If Zelenskiy’s depend is confirmed, it might be the most important aerial assault by the Kremlin’s forces since their full-scale invasion in February 2022. In accordance with the Ukrainian air power, the earlier greatest assault was in November 2022 when Russia launched 96 missiles towards Ukraine.

The bombardment got here as preventing alongside the entrance line is essentially slowed down by winter climate and after Ukraine’s summer time counteroffensive did not make a big breakthrough alongside the roughly 1,000km (620 miles) line of contact.

The roughly 18-hour onslaught that started on Thursday night and continued by the evening hit six cities, together with the capital Kyiv, and different areas from east to west Ukraine, in keeping with authorities.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, has posted on X saying that “Russian terror should and can lose” following an evening of missile strikes.

Zelenskiy stated:

Sadly, there have been fatalities and accidents because of the strikes. All providers are working across the clock and offering the mandatory help. My condolences to those that have misplaced their family members. I want a speedy restoration to these injured.

Russia has suffered enormous human and materials losses in Ukraine and its military will emerge weakened from the battle, a senior German navy determine stated in an interview revealed on Friday.

The interview got here as Kyiv is preventing to take care of western help for its battle towards Russian forces, which invaded in February 2022, AFP experiences.

Christian Freuding, who oversees the German military’s help for Kyiv, instructed the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper:

that in keeping with western intelligence figures, 300,000 Russian troopers have been killed or so critically wounded that they’ll now not be mobilised for the battle.

Leaked US intelligence earlier this month indicated that 315,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in Ukraine for the reason that battle started.

Freuding, who can be a key adviser to the German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, stated:

The Russian losses of males and materials are monumental.

Russia can be believed to have misplaced 1000’s of battle tanks and infantry preventing automobiles, he added.

He stated:

The Russian armed forces will emerge from this battle weakened, each materially and by way of personnel.

Nevertheless, Russia is succeeding in persevering with to recruit troops “together with the usage of prisoners”, Freuding stated.

And, in fact, we’re seeing large investments within the arms trade.

The German normal acknowledged that Russia was demonstrating a better “resilience” than western allies had anticipated in the beginning of the battle.

We maybe didn’t see, or didn’t wish to see, that they’re able to proceed to be provided by allies.

A minimum of two killed and 18 injured in wave of Russian missile strikes throughout Ukraine, say officers

Hiya and welcome to the Guardian’s dwell protection of the battle in Ukraine.

Russia has launched a wave of missile strikes throughout Ukrainian cities, together with the capital, authorities stated as they raised a nationwide air alert.

The Kharkiv mayor, Igor Terekhov, described the assault on Kharkiv as “an enormous missile assault” whereas regional police reported 10 explosions and stated the town had been hit with S-300 missiles.

Explosions had been reported in Kyiv, metropolis mayor Vitali Klitschko stated in a publish on Telegram, and officers say a residential constructing and a warehouse had been set on hearth by falling particles.

Missile assaults had been additionally reported in Lviv within the nation’s west and Odesa within the south in addition to Sumy and Konotop.

Extra on that quickly. In different developments:

• A Panama-flagged bulk service that was heading to the River Danube port to load grain hit a Russian mine within the Black Sea, injuring two crew members, Ukrainian officers stated. The incident that befell on Wednesday was the newest occasion of a civilian vessel hitting an explosive within the Black Sea.

• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked the US for releasing the final remaining bundle of weapons out there for Ukraine beneath present authorisation, as uncertainty surrounds additional help to Kyiv. “To defend freedom and safety not solely in Ukraine and Europe but additionally in america, we should proceed to answer ongoing Russian aggression,” he stated on social media.

• A Moscow court docket sentenced two males to a number of years in jail for participating within the recital of verses towards the Ukraine marketing campaign throughout an anti-mobilisation protest final yr. Artyom Kamardin, 33, obtained a seven-year sentence for reciting a poem, and Yegor Shtovba, 23, was sentenced to 5 and a half years for attending the protest.

• Ukraine’s Airborne Assault Troops stated that three servicemen who Ukrainian prosecutors have stated had been captured and shot useless by Russian forces this month had been members of the 82nd Airborne Assault Brigade. Russia has but to touch upon the allegation, the second accusation that it has killed prisoners of battle levelled towards it this month by Ukrainian prosecutors. Footage shared on social media of the alleged incident seems to point out three unarmed figures collapsing from a stationary place after being fired upon.

• Belarus’s authoritarian president attended a gathering with kids introduced from Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine, brazenly defying worldwide outrage over his nation’s involvement in Moscow’s deportation of Ukrainian kids. Talking on the occasion marking the arrival of a brand new group of Ukrainian kids forward of the New Yr vacation, President Alexander Lukashenko vowed to “embrace these kids, deliver them to our dwelling, maintain them heat and make their childhood happier”.

• An investigation by the Related Press newswire discovered that Russian occupation authorities vastly and intentionally undercounted the useless after the flooding that adopted the catastrophic explosion that destroyed the Kakhovka Dam within the southern Kherson area in June. Russia stated 59 folks drowned within the territory it controls. However AP decided the quantity is a minimum of 200 to 300 in a single city alone.

• Ukraine and Hungary are making ready a gathering of Zelenskiy and prime minister Viktor Orbán within the close to future, the Ukrainian president’s chief of employees stated, amid current steps by Hungary which have soured ties. Andriy Yermak stated on X he had had a “productive cellphone name” with Hungarian overseas minister Peter Szijjarto and that they’d additionally mentioned Ukraine’s progress on its path to European integration.

• A fireplace broke out at a multi-story constructing within the Black Sea port metropolis of Odesa late on Thursday after drones had been reported to be headed for the world, authorities stated. Oleh Kiper, the regional governor, stated in a publish on Telegram that details about casualties was being verified and urged townspeople to remain in shelters amid an ongoing drone assault.

• Shelling killed two civilians and wounded 5 others in a village on the banks of the frontline Dnipro river in southern Ukraine, native authorities stated. “Russian armed forces carried out artillery shelling of the village of Bilenke of Zaporizhzhia Area,” Ukraine’s normal prosecutor stated.

• Zelenskiy stated that Ukraine’s various Black Sea export hall – launched after Russia withdrew from a UN-brokered deal to ensure secure cargo of Ukrainian grain in July – had despatched out 12m tonnes of cargo up to now. He added in his nightly video deal with that the hall had produced “notably vital outcomes for December, and that is felt on the stage of our complete financial system.”

• Zelenskiy stated he mentioned Ukraine’s peace system in a name with Pope Francis. “Over 80 international locations are already concerned on this course of on the stage of their representatives. And there will likely be extra of them,” Zelenskiy stated in a publish on X.