Monitoring Desk
KYIV: A fresh round of blasts rocked Kyiv after Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital and other cities with missiles as the world entered 2023.
The first explosions of the new year began nearly 30 minutes after midnight, hitting two districts of Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a post on Telegram. He said there were no immediate reports of casualties in the latest explosions.
Earlier on Saturday evening, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainians would fight Russia until victorious.
Zelensky optimistic of victory after the Kyiv explosions
“We as a nation are fighting and will continue to fight for our motherland. For the sake of the crucial word: ‘victory,'” he said in an address.
“I want to say to you all: Ukrainians, you are incredible! look what we have done and what we are doing!” Volodymyr Zelensky said in the emotional address.
“We fight as a team — the whole country, all our regions. I admire you all, and I want to thank every invincible Ukrainian region,” he continued.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his midnight address and said that “historical rightness” was on their side.
Klitschko reported on social media that at least one person died from the attacks on Saturday, while authorities of the city said 22 others were injured.
One explosion tore open one corner of a four-star Hotel Alfavito in Kyiv, spilling rubble into the street.
The nearby sidewalks were covered in glass from blown-out windows in the area, including from Kyiv’s National Palace of Arts.
Filmmaker Yaroslav Mutenko, 23, lived in a nearby apartment compound and said he was in the washroom preparing to go to a New Year’s Eve party when he heard a boom.
