Smoke rises in the capital Kiev, Ukraine on the morning of December 29 after a Russian attack (Photo: Reuters).
In a statement on December 29, the Russian Defense Ministry said that since last weekend, Russia has carried out mass attacks in Ukraine using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and precision-guided missiles.
The raids included 50 group attacks and one large-scale attack early this morning. Targets included defense industrial infrastructure, air bases, weapons and ammunition depots, fuel depots, and Ukrainian military positions.
The confirmation came after Ukrainian officials said that on the night of December 28 and early morning of December 29, Russia attacked a series of cities across Ukraine.
Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian army Valery Zaluzhny said that they detected at least 158 attacks, of which Kiev intercepted 87 cruise missiles and 27 drones.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia had launched about 110 missiles and drones. This could be considered one of Russia's largest attacks in Ukraine to date. It is estimated that Russia used 18 Tu-95 strategic bombers to fire the missiles.
"We have never detected so many air targets at the same time," said Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat, adding that Moscow used "all types of weapons in its arsenal" from suicide drones to ballistic missiles and hypersonic Kinzhal missiles to carry out the attack.
Based on information from the Ukrainian military, Pravda news site estimates that Russia spent at least $1.2 billion on this unprecedented attack. According to Pravda, Russia launched at least 90 Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 air-to-surface cruise missiles, 8 Kh-22/Kh-32 cruise missiles, 14 S-300/S-400 ballistic missiles, 5 Kinzhal missiles, 4 Kh-31P missiles and 1 Kh-59 missile. In addition, at least 32 UAVs participated in the attack.
"The largest airstrike on Ukraine occurred on December 29. We shot down 114 out of 158 air targets... We will respond! We will win," said Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a metro station and several warehouses in the capital had been destroyed. The attack also caused a fire at a shopping mall in Kiev.
Local authorities in the Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov, Lviv, Sumy, Odessa, Zaporizhia regions also reported damage after this large-scale Russian attack.
AP cited initial figures from Ukrainian officials saying that at least 13 people were killed and many others were injured in the Russian raid last night and early this morning.
Moscow's attack came shortly after Ukraine's attack on a port city in Crimea, damaging a large Russian landing ship. Following the incident, Russia is said to have repositioned its fleet to avoid Ukrainian fire.
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