For today, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Tass, National Public Radio, and The Kyiv Independent; others are accessible by clicking on its initials below. (GAZA entry for this date, so far, and a MADSEN entry are HERE and HERE.)— MCM
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Russia pounds Kharkiv with missiles and drones, Ukraine says, by Vitalii Hnidyi | Reuters Russia pounded the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv with missiles and drones in the hours leading into New Year’s Eve, Ukrainian officials said, hours after Moscow accused Kyiv of carrying out a deadly air assault just across the border on nearby Belgorod. In the first wave of Russia’s attacks . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russia launches fresh drone strikes on Ukraine after promising retaliation for Belgorod attack, by Illia Novikov | AP KYIV — Russia launched a fresh drone assault on Ukraine on Saturday night, after promising that strikes on the Russian border city of Belgorod earlier in the day “would not go unpunished”. The Ukrainian Air Force said Sunday that it had shot down 21 of 49 drones launched . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russia strikes Ukraine in retaliation for attack on Belgorod. From AFP. Russia launched fresh strikes against Ukraine early today, a day after vowing to retaliate for what it called a “terrorist attack” on the city of Belgorod. Several Iranian-made Shahed drones targeted Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv overnight, according to local authorities, as . . . READ MORE . . .
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Number of casualties during shelling of Belgorod totals 131. From Tass. MOSCOW — “As a result of the shelling of Belgorod from Ukraine, 131 people were wounded, including 18 children. Of these, 24 people died, including four children,” the Russian Health Ministry said in a statement.
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FROM DEC. 30 How Ukrainian commercial ships are evading Russia’s blockade. Reported by Joanna Kakissis | NPR The once-sleepy river ports on the Danube River have become a main route for Ukraine’s food exports — and regular targets for Russian missiles. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.
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Ukraine’s most important battles of 2023, by Igor Kossov | The Kyiv Independent Russia’s invasion of 2022 may have shocked the world with the brutality of the fighting but it was only a preview for what was coming in 2023. This year was one slow battle of attrition after another, with destruction and loss of life on a shocking scale. From Bakhmut to Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Kupiansk and Avdiivka, the Kremlin casually sacrificed hundreds of thousands of men and their equipment. An . . . READ MORE . . .