Incident involved ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky and russian leader vladimir putin. zelensky accused putin of destroying his own country and of deliberately targeting civilians in ukraine. the ukrainian air force reported shooting down 45 iranian-made kamikaze drones and valerii zaluzhny, head of ukraine’s armed forces, reported that air defences had shot down 12 of the 20 russian cruise missiles.
the incident happened on the new year’s eve, with further missile strikes on kyiv just hours into the new year on sunday. it took place in the ukrainian capital, kyiv, where residents were rocked by explosions as they celebrated the new year.
the incident happened when putin presented the invasion of ukraine as a defense of their people and their historical lands, claiming that morality and rightness were on their side. he urged the russian people to remain unified and to strive towards achieving a better future. zelensky warned of the dangers of mr putin and his military, stressing that the leader was hiding behind his troops and his missiles, and the walls of his residences and palaces. the west rejected putin’s claims that they were allegedly “provoking” the invasion of ukraine on 24 february, accusing them of lying about peace and using ukraine and its people to weaken and split russia. in the days leading up to new year’s, dozens of air strikes had caused repeated power outages.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64135080?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
