Volodymyr Zelensky delivered his New Year address to the nation just before midnight on Saturday, news outlets reported.
Ukraine’s president said: “This year has struck our hearts. We've cried out all the tears. All the prayers have been yelled. 311 days. We have something to say about every minute.”
He added: “But most of the words are superfluous. They are not needed. No explanations or decorations are needed. Silence is needed to hear. Pauses are needed to realize.”
‘I want to wish all of us one thing - victory’
Zelensky went on to say: “We do not know for sure what the new year 2023 will bring us…. I want to wish all of us one thing – victory. And that's the main thing. One wish for all Ukrainians.”
He added: “Let this year be the year of return. The return of our people. Soldiers – to their families. Prisoners – to their homes. Immigrants – to their Ukraine. Return of our lands. And the temporarily occupied will become forever free. Return to normal life. To happy moments without curfew. To earthly joys without air alerts. The return of what has been stolen from us. The childhood of our children, the peaceful old age of our parents.”
Zelensky stressed: “May the New Year bring all this. We are ready to fight for it. That's why each of us is here. I'm here. We are here. You are here. Everyone is here. We are all Ukraine. Glory to Ukraine! Happy New Year!,” as cited by the presidential office.
Russia strikes Ukrainian cities minutes into 2023
Meanwhile, just minutes after Ukraine’s president delivered his address to the nation, fresh explosions were heard in the capital Kyiv and around Ukraine, Britain’s The Guardian newspaper reported on its website.
Kyiv’s city military administration later wrote on the social messaging app Telegram: "According to preliminary information, air defence forces destroyed 32 enemy air targets," according to the Ukrinform news agency.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said preliminary reports suggested there were no injured or casualties, only a damaged car in the city centre, as quoted by The Guardian.
The air raid alert lasted for over four hours, Ukrinform reported.
Blasts were also heard in the southern region of Kherson and the northern Zhytomyr province, according to unofficial reports, The Guardian said.
Ukraine's Air Force command said that they had destroyed 45 Iranian-made Shahed drones - 32 of them after midnight on Sunday and 13 late on Saturday, the Reuters news agency reported.
With air raid sirens sounding across the country and air defences being brought into action, some people in Kyiv shouted from their balconies: “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!,” according to Reuters.
‘Terror on New Year’s Eve’
The attacks shortly after the turn of the year followed a wave of over 20 cruise missiles that struck targets across Ukraine on Saturday, news outlets reported.
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, called Saturday’s attack “terror on New Year’s Eve,” The Guardian reported.
Saturday’s attack killed at least one person in Kyiv and injured another 20 people, according to officials.
It was Russia’s second major rocket assault in three days. Missiles damaged a hotel south of Kyiv’s centre and a residential building in another district, officials said.
A Japanese journalist was among the injured and taken to hospital, Mayor Klitschko told reporters.
Since October, Russia has systematically targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with rocket and drone attacks, leaving millions without electricity, heat and access to drinking water.
Sunday is day 312 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm)
Source: PAP, Reuters, president.gov.ua, The Guardian, BBC, ukrinform.net