As the Russo-Ukrainian war enters its 312th day, let’s take a look at the main developments.
Here’s the current situation on Sunday, January 1, 2023:
New Year’s speech
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a new year messages that his only wish for all Ukrainians in 2023 is victory and is determined to continue the journey while the country fights for it.
- “This year has touched our hearts. We cried all our tears. We shouted all the prayers,” Zelenskyy said. “We fight and will continue to fight. For the sake of the keyword: ‘victory’.”
- President Vladimir Putin devoted his New Year’s speech to rallying the Russian people to support his troops fighting in Ukraine and pledge victory over Ukraine and the West’s supposed “neo-fascism”. intended to “destroy Russia”.
- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia’s victory over Ukraine was “inevitable” as he praised the heroism of Russian soldiers in a New Year’s video message.
Fight
- Many explosions are heard in Kyiv and elsewhere around Ukraine and air raid sirens sounded across the country in the early hours of New Year’s Day. There was no immediate report of damage.
- A series more than 20 cruise missiles was fired at targets across Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 20 in the capital city in eastern Ukraine. the second wave of attacks on the country in three days.
- According to the city government, a hotel south of Kyiv city center was hit by bullets and a residential building in another district was damaged.
- Other areas across Ukraine were also bombarded, including the southern region of Mykolaiv, the western city of Khmelnytskyi and the southern industrial city of Zaporizhzhia.
- Russia and Ukraine say they have freed more than 200 captured soldiers, the latest prisoner exchange between the two sides.
- Russian authorities announced that soldiers and state employees deployed to fight in Ukraine will be income tax freeMoscow’s latest attempt to encourage support for a military campaign against Kyiv.
diplomatic
- French President Emmanuel Macron said in his New Year’s Eve speech that France would stand with Ukraine until it won. “In the year that is about to begin, we will always be by your side,” he said.
- Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Saturday met separately with representatives of Russia and Ukraine before his inauguration and called for an end to the war between the two countries.
