On the first day of 2024, led by President Zelensky, Ukraine vowed retaliation against Russian forces as both countries experienced an escalation in strikes. Meanwhile, Ukraine struggled in its counteroffensive, urging Western allies for continued military support.
President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to unleash “wrath” against Russian forces in 2024, hours before Ukraine experienced attacks on the first day of the year.
Russia and Ukraine have witnessed an escalation in strikes, including an unprecedented assault on the Russian city of Belgorod that resulted in the deaths of 24 people on Saturday.
The attack occurred a day after Moscow launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities, resulting in the deaths of 39 people in one of the most significant aerial attacks since the war began.
January 1 is a day of mourning in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, where 19 people were reported killed, according to city officials. Just hours after midnight on New Year’s Day, the Russian-installed head of the occupied Donetsk region announced that four people had been killed and 13 wounded in “massive shelling” from rockets on its main city. In Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, Governor Oleg Kiper reported that one person died in a Russian drone attack and three others were wounded.
Zelensky’s televised New Year’s address featured clips of Ukrainian artillery and fighter jets.
“Next year, the enemy will feel the wrath of domestic production,” Zelensky said.
Ukraine will have at least “a million” additional drones in its arsenal next year, Zelensky added, as well as F-16 fighter jets delivered by its Western partners.
Despite billions of dollars worth of Western weapons, Ukraine struggled to make a major breakthrough in its 2023 counteroffensive against invading Russian forces.
Meanwhile, Moscow has intensified pressure along the frontlines, capturing the eastern town of Marinka earlier in December and pushing for control of Kupiansk in the northeast.
Ukraine is urging Western allies to maintain military support. Britain announced it would send hundreds more air-defense missiles to Kyiv after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared, “We must continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Zelensky’s counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, did not mention Ukraine in his traditional New Year’s Eve address on Sunday but praised Russia’s soldiers on the front lines and called for unity in the face of “difficult tasks.”
Miroslava Salazar, with AFP
