(Reuters) – Russia said on Monday 63 Russian servicemen had been killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on their quarters in the town of Makiivka, in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, on New Year’s Eve.
Ukraine said it had shot down all Russian drones fired in a third straight night of air strikes.
FIGHTING
* Russia’s Defence Ministry said 63 Russian servicemen had been killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on their temporary accommodation in the town of Makiivka.
* Ukraine’s air defence systems destroyed 22 air objects above Kyiv early on Monday, its military administration said.
* The strikes knocked out some power and heating, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. Earlier one person was wounded by debris from a destroyed drone.
* The regional military command in Ukraine’s east said air defence systems destroyed nine Iranian-made drones over the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
PUTIN ADDRESS
* Russian President Vladimir Putin devoted his annual New Year’s address to rallying the Russian people behind his troops fighting in Ukraine and pledging victory over Ukrainian “neo-Nazis” and a West supposedly intent on “destroying Russia”.
* Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said victory for Russia over Ukraine was “inevitable” as he hailed Russian soldiers’ heroism in a New Year’s video message.
ZELENSKIY ADDRESS
* President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a New Year message that his only wish for all Ukrainians for 2023 was victory and resolved to stay the course while the country fights for it. “We fight and will continue to fight. For the sake of the key word: ‘victory’.”
DIPLOMACY
* Zelenskiy said Ukraine was waiting for 2023’s first tranche of European Union (EU) macrofinancial aid in January after speaking to European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen.
QUOTE
* “It is a huge tragedy. It is a huge tragedy that cannot ever be forgiven. That is why the New Year is sad,” said Ukrainian soldier, Pavlo Pryzhehodskiy, 27, who had lost 12 of his comrades in a single night of fighting.
(Compiled by Michael Perry, Alexandra Hudson)
