KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 Ukrainians faced a grim start to 2023 as Sunday brought more Russian missile and drone attacks following a blistering New Year\u2019s Eve assault that killed at least three civilians across the country, authorities reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Air raid sirens sounded in the capital shortly after midnight, followed by a barrage of missiles that interrupted the\u00a0small celebrations residents held at home\u00a0due to wartime curfews. Ukrainian officials alleged Moscow was deliberately targeting civilians along with critical infrastructure to create a climate of fear and destroy morale during the long winter months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a video address Sunday night, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised his citizens\u2019 \u201csense of unity, of authenticity, of life itself.\u201d The Russians, he said, \u201cwill not take away a single year from Ukraine. They will not take away our independence. We will not give them anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian forces in the air and on the ground shot down 45 Iranian-made explosive drones fired by Russia on Saturday night and before dawn Sunday, Zelenskyy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another strike at noon Sunday in the southern Zaporizhzhia region killed one person, according to the head of the regional military administration, Alexander Starukh. But Kyiv was largely quiet, and people there on New Year\u2019s Day savored the snippets of peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOf course it was hard to celebrate fully because we understand that our soldiers can\u2019t be with their family,\u201d Evheniya Shulzhenko said while sitting with her husband on a park bench overlooking the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But a \u201creally powerful\u201d New Year\u2019s Eve speech by Zelenskyy lifted her spirits and made her proud to be Ukrainian, Shulzhenko said. She recently moved to Kyiv after living in Bakhmut and Kharkiv, two cities that have experienced some of the heaviest fighting of the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Multiple blasts rocked the capital and other areas of Ukraine on Saturday and through the night, wounding dozens. An AP photographer at the scene of an explosion in Kyiv saw a woman\u2019s body as her husband and son stood nearby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s largest university, the Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv, reported significant damage to its buildings and campus. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two schools were damaged, including a kindergarten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The strikes came 36 hours after widespread missile attacks Russia launched Thursday to damage energy infrastructure facilities. Saturday\u2019s\u00a0unusually quick follow-up\u00a0alarmed Ukrainian officials. Russia has carried out airstrikes on Ukrainian power and water supplies almost weekly since October, increasing the\u00a0suffering of Ukrainians, while its ground forces struggle to hold ground and advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nighttime shelling in parts of the southern city of Kherson killed one person and blew out hundreds of windows in a children\u2019s hospital, according to deputy presidential chief of staff Kyrylo Tymoshenko. Ukrainian forces reclaimed the city in November after Russia\u2019s forces withdrew across the Dnieper River, which bisects the Kherson region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When shells hit the children\u2019s hospital on Saturday night, surgeons were operating on a 13-year-old boy who was seriously wounded in a nearby village that evening, Kherson Gov. Yaroslav Yanushevych said. The boy was transferred in serious condition to a hospital about 99 kilometers (62 miles) away in Mykolaiv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, a 22-year-old woman died of wounds from a Saturday rocket attack Saturday in the eastern town of Khmelnytskyi, the city\u2019s mayor said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of New Year\u2019s fireworks, Oleksander Dugyn said he and his friends and family in Kyiv watched the sparks caused by Ukrainian air defense forces countering Russian attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe already know the sound of rockets, we know the moment they fly, we know the sound of drones. The sound is like the roar of a moped,\u201d said Dugin, who was strolling with his family in the park. \u201cWe hold on the best we can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Russia\u2019s bombardments have left many Ukrainians without heating and electricity due to damage or controlled blackouts meant to preserve the remaining power supply, Ukraine\u2019s state-owned grid operator said Sunday there would be no restrictions on electricity use for one day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe power industry is doing everything possible to ensure that the New Year\u2019s holiday is with light, without restrictions,\u201d utility company Ukrenergo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It said businesses and industry had cut back to allow the additional electricity for households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelenskyy, in his nightly address, thanked utility workers for helping to keep the lights on during the latest assault. \u201cIt is very important how all Ukrainians recharged their inner energy this New Year\u2019s Eve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In separate tweets Sunday, the Ukrainian leader also reminded the European Union of his country\u2019s wish to join the EU. He thanked the Czech Republic and congratulated Sweden, which just exchanged the EU\u2019s rotating presidency, for their help in securing progress for Ukraine\u2019s bid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the Western military alliance\u2019s 30 members need to \u201cramp up\u201d arms production in the coming months both to maintain their own stockpiles and to keep supplying Ukraine with the weapons it needs to fend off Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The war in Ukraine, now in its 11th month, is consuming an \u201cenormous amount\u201d of munitions, Stoltenberg told BBC Radio 4\u2032s \u201cThe World This Weekend\u201d in an interview that aired Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is a core responsibility for NATO to ensure that we have the stocks, the supplies, the weapons in place to ensure our own deterrence and defense, but also to be able to continue to provide support to Ukraine for the long haul,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Achieving the twin goals \u201cis a huge undertaking. We need to ramp up production, and that is exactly what the NATO allies are doing,\u201d Stoltenberg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NATO chief said that while Russia has experienced battlefield setbacks and the fighting on the ground appears at a stalemate, \u201cRussia has shown no sign of giving up its overall goal of taking control over Ukraine.\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Ukrainian forces have had the momentum for several months but we also know that Russia has mobilized many more forces. Many of them are now training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll that indicates that they are prepared to continue the war and also potentially try to launch a new offensive,\u201d Stoltenberg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that what Ukraine can achieve during negotiations to end the war will depend on the strength it shows on the battlefield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf we want a negotiated solution that ensures that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign, independent, democratic state in Europe, then we need to provide support for Ukraine now,\u201d Stoltenberg said<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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