UN Condemns Russian Attacks
The United Nations has strongly condemned Russia’s recent air raids on Ukraine. In one of the most intense waves of attacks since the beginning of the war, at least 30 people were killed, and more than 160 were injured.
The UN Security Council addressed the recent massive Russian attacks on Ukraine in an emergency session. Deputy UN Secretary-General Mohammed Khiari strongly condemned the attacks, stating, “Regrettably, today’s appalling attacks were just the latest in a series of escalating attacks” by Russia.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also unequivocally condemned the attacks on cities and communities in Ukraine, said Khiari. Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure “violate international humanitarian law, are unacceptable, and must be stopped immediately.”
China does not condemn the attacks
Most Security Council members, including the USA, France, and the UK, also condemned the assaults. US representative John Kelley said Russian President Vladimir Putin had chosen to start the new year with an unprecedented number of drone and missile attacks against another UN member state.
However, China’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Geng Shuang, did not condemn the attacks. Instead, he called for a “political solution” to the war. Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia blamed the deaths on the faulty use of Ukrainian air defense systems, whose use “led to the death of civilians.” He held up a QR code connected to a video, which, according to Nebenzia, showed how residential buildings were damaged by Ukrainian air defense.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the attack showed that there could be “no talk of a ceasefire” with the Kremlin, especially at a time when the future of Western support for Kyiv is uncertain. He urged allies to continue providing long-term assistance.
Russia continues attacks on Saturday
In one of the most intense waves of Russian attacks on Ukraine since the start of the war, at least 30 people were killed and more than 160 others were injured on Friday, according to Ukrainian reports. Schools, a maternity clinic, shopping centers, and residential buildings were among the targets.
Russia continued its aerial assaults during the night into Saturday. Air raid sirens rang out in the southern Ukrainian regions extending westward. The Ukrainian Air Force reported Russian combat drones flying with multiple course changes over the country.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that the military had shot down 32 Ukrainian drones over the border areas of Bryansk, Oryol, and Kursk, as well as over the Moscow region.
“Material for two to three more such waves of attacks”
The air raids are seen as a targeted attempt by the Russian military leadership to break the resistance of Ukrainians against Putin’s ordered invasion.
Security expert Nico Lange wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the combined air attacks with well over 100 cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones had been planned for at least one to two weeks. They were not a spontaneous reaction to, for example, the destruction of a Russian ship by Ukraine, as planning periods for such complex attacks are too long.
“Unfortunately, such attacks by Russia were to be expected since Russia has apparently been saving newly produced cruise missiles for this purpose,” Lange continued. It is assumed that Russia currently has the material for two to three more such waves of attacks.
Likely Violation of Polish Airspace as Well
In the course of the massive air attacks, a Russian rocket, according to the findings of the Polish army, also violated the airspace of NATO member Poland on Friday. “Everything indicates that a Russian rocket entered Polish airspace. We tracked it on radar, and it left the airspace again,” said Chief of the General Staff Wieslaw Kukula in Warsaw.
According to reports, the rocket was in Polish airspace for about three minutes, covering a distance of 40 kilometers. The western Ukrainian city of Lviv, which was also attacked by Russia today, is only about 70 kilometers from the Polish border.