Russia-Ukraine war latest: Ukraine’s air force claims it destroyed 54 Russian cruise missiles out of 69 launched | Ukraine

Belarus’ state-run BelTA news agency reported that a Ukrainian S-300 missile had fallen onto the territory of Belarus during one of Russia’s largest missile attacks against Ukraine since the start of the war.

Reuters reports:

The Minsk defence ministry was investigating whether Belarus’ air defence systems had shot down the rocket or it was a misfire.

The incident occurred between 10 and 11 a.m. (0700-0800 GMT) – around the time Russia was firing scores of missiles towards Ukraine.

BelTA said the missile that landed in Belarus had come from Ukrainian territory. It published a photo of what it said were parts of a S-300 missile lying in an empty agricultural field.

BelTA said there was no information about casualties.

Kyiv has used the S-300 system to intercept incoming Russian missiles, while Russia has appeared to use repurposed S-300 missiles to attack ground targets – something that military analysts say could be a sign that its missile stocks are dwindling.

Belarus allowed Moscow to use its territory as a launchpad for the invasion of
Ukraine in February, but has insisted that it is not participating in the war, and will not participate.

• Russia launched a new wave of missile attacks across Ukraine on Thursday morning, with Ukraine’s air force claiming it shot down 54 Russian winged cruise missiles out of 69 launched into Ukraine from Rostov in Russia, the Caspian sea and the Black sea. Earlier presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak claimed that more than 120 missiles had been fired.

• The mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, stated that three people were known to be injured in the country’s capital, including a 14-year-old girl. Two people had been rescued from a private house that had been struck by debris. Klitschko said 40% of the capital’s consumers are without electricity after the missile attack.

• There were widespread reports of power outages as residents in cities across Ukraine were warned to stay in air raid shelters, charge their devices and stock up on water where possible. The city of Lviv was reported to be 90% without electricity as a result of the attacks. Maksym Kozytskyi, Lviv’s governor, said “air defence forces destroyed 70% of the missiles flying over Lviv region. Energy companies have already started repair work and should restore power supply in the regional centre by the end of the day.”

• There were also explosions reported in Kharkiv, and Ukraine’s air force stated that overnight it had destroyed 11 Shahed drones.

• The TSN channel is carrying quotes from Yuriy Ignat, the spokesperson of the air force command of the armed forces of Ukraine, which suggests a lower number of missiles were fired. He told the news organisation “The Russians used about 13 planes, two ships, there is tactical aviation. There are planes that can launch Kh-22 missiles. The activity is high. If 13 planes and two ships are involved, then you can understand that there can be about 100 missiles. They are ready for that many. I think there may be about 90 missiles.”

• Ukraine’s ministry of defence issued a defiant statement after the attacks, tweeting “Russian terrorists have been saving one of the most massive missile attacks since the beginning of the full-scale invasion for the last days of the year. They dream that Ukrainians will celebrate the new year in darkness and cold. But they cannot defeat the Ukrainian people.”

• The attack was criticised by the British ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, who said Russia’s actions showed “Russia does not want peace with Ukraine, Russia wants the subjugation of Ukraine”.

• Ukrainian officials are continuing to urge residents to evacuate from the city of Kherson as Russian forces stepped up mortar and artillery attacks on the southern Ukrainian city, which was recently liberated. Some residents who lived through the Russian occupation are reluctant to leave despite the bombardment, according to a local official who has been involved in the evacuation. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the office of president of Ukraine, reported on Thursday that two people were injured in a Russian attack on a medical facility there.

• On Wednesday Volodymyr Zelenskiy said “only a few” civilians remain in the embattled frontline city of Bakhmut in the eastern province of Donetsk. In a Telegram post, Ukraine’s leader said “there is no place that is not covered with blood” in the Ukrainian-held city, where his troops are waging a battle that has come to symbolise the grinding brutality of the war.

• Ukraine has secured the release of 1,456 prisoners of war since Russia invaded in February, according to Zelenskiy. Ukraine’s president was speaking in an annual address to the Ukrainian parliament, where Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, cabinet ministers, foreign diplomats, military personnel and family members of fallen soldiers were reportedly present.

• The Kremlin insisted Wednesday that any proposals to end the conflict must take into account what it calls “today’s realities” of four Ukrainian regions Moscow has unilaterally declared part of Russia. In a regular briefing with reporters, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, dismissed Zelenskiy’s 10-point peace plan, which includes the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops, the release of all prisoners, a tribunal for those responsible for the aggression and security guarantees for Ukraine.

That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back later. Rachel Hall will be with you for the next few hours.

Ukraine’s air force has said that it shot down 54 Russian cruise missiles on Thursday morning out of 69 launched into Ukraine. In a Facebook post, the air force command said:

Russian occupants continue terror against civilians of Ukraine by attacking objects of critical infrastructure of our country. On 29 December, the enemy carried out another mass shelling of Ukraine with rockets and kamikaze drones.

The Ukrainian forces claim that 11 Shahed drones were destroyed overnight, having been launched from the eastern direction. It says that at 7am (5am GMT):

The enemy attacked Ukraine with winged air missiles from strategic bombers from the area of Volgodonsk, Rostov region, and the northern area of the Caspian Sea, as well as winged rockets from the ships in the Black Sea.

In total, according to preliminary data, the occupation troops used 69 missiles. 54 enemy winged missiles were destroyed by the forces and means of the air force, in cooperation with other components of the defence forces of Ukraine.

Similar information was posted to Twitter.