Kyiv was bombed on New Year's Eve.

Numerous explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the last day of 2024.

Kyiv's military authorities announced on December 31, 2024, that air defense systems had thwarted a Russian attack in the early morning hours. Witnesses told Reuters that multiple explosions occurred in the Ukrainian capital after the air force issued a nationwide missile threat.

Conflict Point: Ukraine running out of ATACMS ammunition; Russia pressing hard in Kursk.

Initial reports indicate that missile debris damaged three buildings and two cars. One woman was injured.

In the town of Shostka in the Sumy province of northern Ukraine, 13 missiles were launched, damaging a 12-story apartment building, two educational facilities, and several other buildings.

Kyiv residents take shelter in a subway station during the attack on the morning of December 31, 2024.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported shooting down 6 out of 21 missiles launched by Russia overnight, including one hypersonic missile. Additionally, Russia launched 40 UAVs, but 16 were shot down and 24 failed to reach their targets.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it carried out a precision-guided attack and drone strike on Ukrainian military infrastructure, including a military airfield and an explosives production facility. Moscow said all targets were hit.

Kyiv residents take shelter under the metro station.

Kyiv suffered an attack on the last day of 2024, forcing residents to seek shelter in the subway.

Ukrainian self-propelled boat shoots down Russian helicopter.

The Ukrainian military intelligence agency (GUR) reported on December 31, 2024, that one of its self-propelled boats destroyed a Russian helicopter and damaged another in the Black Sea.

Specifically, in the battle near Cape Tarkhankut on the western coast of the Crimean Peninsula on December 31, 2024, a Ukrainian Magura V5 self-propelled missile boat struck a Russian Mi-8 helicopter, marking the first time an airborne target had been shot down. The GUR (Ukrainian Urgency) released video showing multiple missiles fired at the helicopter, causing the Russian vehicle to subsequently fall into the water. Another helicopter was damaged but managed to return to the airfield.

Russia has not commented on the information. The Russian Ministry of Defense said the Black Sea Fleet destroyed eight unmanned boats in 24 hours. Mikhail Razvozhaev, the head of the Russian-appointed Sevastopol provincial administration in Crimea, said two unmanned boats were destroyed near the shore overnight. Russian military blogger Voenny Osvedomitel also reported that a Ukrainian unmanned boat shot down a Russian helicopter.

On the same day, Ukrainian drones attacked an oil depot in the Smolensk province of western Russia, causing a fuel leak and fire. Governor Vasily Anokhin said 10 drones were shot down, but debris fell into the oil depot. He announced that the situation was under control and that no nearby residents were affected, but did not specify the extent of the damage.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that 68 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight, including 10 in Smolensk.

Russia and Ukraine held a major prisoner exchange ahead of the new year.

Prisoner exchange

Russia and Ukraine conducted a large-scale prisoner exchange on December 30, 2024. According to The Kyiv Independent , 189 Ukrainian citizens were released, including 87 servicemen, 43 members of the National Guard, and 33 members of the border guard. Those released included soldiers defending the Azovstal region and the city of Mariupol, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Snake Island, and other fronts.

Conversely, Russia received 150 military personnel in an exchange brokered by the UAE.

Ukrainian prisoners of war were released in the exchange on December 30, 2024.

Russian prisoners of war were released in the exchange on December 30, 2024.

Russia is making rapid progress in 2024.

AFP's analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW, USA) on December 31, 2024, shows that Russia gained control of nearly 4,000 ^square kilometers of territory in Ukraine in 2024, seven times more than in 2023. Most of the land Russia acquired was in the fall, with 610 ^square kilometers in October and 725 ^square kilometers in November 2024. These were the two months in which Russia gained the most territory since March 2022, the start of the conflict.

In December 2024, Russia's progress slowed to 465 ^km² but was still nearly four times more than in December 2023.

Data reveals the pressure Ukraine faces in the new year of 2025, as Russia pours resources into the conflict while the likelihood of US aid under the Donald Trump administration is questioned.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chien-su-ukraine-ngay-1042-kyiv-bi-oanh-tac-ngay-cuoi-nam-185241231171401692.htm