As the war enters its 678th day, these are the main developments.
Here is the situation on Tuesday, January 2, 2024.
Fighting
- Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to intensify strikes on Ukraine after the death toll rose to 25 in Saturday’s unprecedented raid on the Russian city of Belgorod, not far from the border. Moscow has blamed Kyiv for the Belgorod attack, which came a day after Russia launched some 158 missiles and drones on Ukrainian cities killing 30 people in Kyiv and elsewhere.
- Ukraine held a day of mourning for Friday’s attack, the deadliest on the capital since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, as five more bodies were recovered from the rubble in Kyiv.
- Ukraine’s air defence systems destroyed 87 of 90 drones launched on the country by Russia, some of which targeted port infrastructure in Odesa. Oleh Kiper, the head of the region’s military administration, said a 15-year-old boy was killed and seven people injured after falling debris from one of the drones hit a residential building in the southern city.
- Drone strikes and artillery fire also killed three people in Ukraine’s Kherson, Kharkiv and Sumy regions, according to officials.
- Four people were killed by artillery fire in the Russian-occupied eastern city of Donetsk, according to Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed head of the broader Donetsk region, adding that 14 people had been injured.
- One person was also killed and another wounded in shelling on the Russian border town of Shebekino, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Source
:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
