On New Year’s Day, Russia and Ukraine accused each other of targeting civilians. In Russian-controlled areas, a hotel and cafe were hit by a drone strike, killing at least 24 people. Ukraine said attacks hit energy infrastructure in seven regions, with one person killed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said over 200 attack drones were launched on Ukraine on New Year’s night. He said energy and defense facilities were targeted and that defense equipment agreed with the US is expected to arrive on time.
Russian-installed governor of Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, called the strike an attack on civilians celebrating. He said many people died and 50 were injured. Moscow views the drone attacks as an attempt to hide Ukraine’s failures at the front.
The Ukrainian side regularly reports civilian casualties from Russian air strikes, including in Kherson. These events happened during US-supervised peace talks and increased tensions between the two sides.
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