Russian strikes on Saturday targeted Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, just hours before New Year’s Eve celebrations, while President Vladimir Putin told Russians that “historical rightness” was on their side.
As Russian regions in the Far East rang in 2023, the Russian leader delivered his midnight address – usually set against the backdrop of the Kremlin -standing among servicemen and women who fought in Ukraine.
At around the same time, explosions shook the Ukrainian capital where AFP journalists heard around 10 loud blasts in the early afternoon.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on social media that at least one person died as a result of the attacks and 20 others were injured.
An explosion tore open one corner of the four-star Hotel Alfavito in Kyiv, spilling rubble into the street, an AFP reporter saw.
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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, lives in a nearby apartment complex and said he was in the shower preparing to go to a New Year’s Eve party when he heard a boom.
He said there had been similar explosions in the area during a previous attack in October, but nothing as loud as Saturday’s explosion.
As he watched rescue workers cordon off the street in front of the hotel, he said he still planned to go to the party at a friend’s house.
“Our enemies the Russians can destroy our calm but they cannot destroy our spirit.
“Why do I go celebrate with friends? Because this year I understand that it is important to have people near,” he said.
The attacks come as Putin’s invasion of Ukraine enters its 11th month, with Russian strikes systematically targeting energy infrastructure, leaving millions in the cold and dark in the middle of winter.
According to mayor Klitschko, 30 percent of Kyiv’s residents were left without electricity due to emergency power cuts after the strikes on Saturday.
Strikes were also reported in the southern city of Mykolaiv where a local official said six people were injured.
Mykolaiv mayor Oleksandr Sienkievych had said earlier that a fire broke out in one of the city’s districts and several residential buildings sustained damage as a result of the strikes.
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