Ukraine-Russia war live: Kyiv steps up drone and missile strikes on Crimea and Belgorod

Russia said Wednesday it shot down 12 missiles fired at one of its southern regions bordering Ukraine, as Kyiv’s forces seek to embarrass the Kremlin and puncture President Vladimir Putin’s argument that life is going on as normal despite the 22-month war.

The situation in the border city of Belgorod, which came under two rounds of shelling on Wednesday morning, “remains tense,” said regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov, writing on Telegram.

“Air defense systems worked,” he said, promising more details about possible damage after inspecting the area later in the day, part of a New Year’s holiday week in Russia.

Ukraine fired two Tochka-U missiles and seven rockets at the region late Tuesday, followed by six Tochka-U missiles and six Vilkha rockets on Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The Russian side of the frontier has come under increasingly frequent attack in recent days.

Throughout the war, border villages have sporadically been targeted by Ukrainian artillery fire, rockets, mortar shells and drones launched from thick forests where they are hard to detect.

Lately, as Russia fired missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities, Kyiv’s troops have aimed at Belgorod’s regional capital, which is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Kharkiv, Ukraine‘s second-largest city.

Below are some of the latest photos from Ukraine.

“I spoke with UK prime minister @RishiSunak on Russia’s continued air terror against Ukrainian cities. Over the previous five days, the enemy has launched at least 500 missiles and drones toward Ukraine,” Mr Zelensky said on Tuesday night as he thanked the UK for “substantial and comprehensive aid in bolstering Ukraine’s air defence, particularly with radars, advanced anti-drone systems, and missiles”.

The Ukrainian president said he and Mr Sunak spoke about further defence cooperation with a particular focus on air defence and long-range capabilities.

The Kyiv military administration has announced that 54 civilians were injured by Russian attacks on the capital yesterday.

Originally, the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said 49 people had been injured as a result of the strikes, while two people were killed.

The attack was one of the biggest aerial assaults on the capital, as well as the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv, in the east.

More than two dozen Ukrainian and Russian civilians have been killed as a result of missile and drone strikes since last Saturday, it has been revealed.

The Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), a Georgia-based war analyst, reported that 27 people have been killed and another 186 injured in the last five days.

Two of those killed were in Russia while 25 were in Ukraine. Russian officials have claimed that on 29 December, the day before the CIT began its count, 25 Russian civilians were killed by Ukrainian strikes.

You can see the full breakdown below.

Russia has changed the main target of its long-range missile campaigns against Ukraine, the British Ministry of Defence has claimed.

After last year’s targeting of energy infrastructure to plunge Ukrianians into the winter’s cold, the MoD suggested Russia is now targeting Ukraine’s defence industry in signs that it is preparing for a longer war.

“Russian planners almost certainly recognise the growing importance of relative defence industrial capacity as they prepare for a long war,” the MoD said.

You can view the full statement below.

A Russian artillery shell has killed an elderly man in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, a local official has reported.

The man’s body was recovered from the rubble of a destroyed building in Sadove, just a few miles north of the nearest Russian soldiers on the other side of the Dnipro River.

Oleksandr Prokudin, governor of the Kherson region, said the attack happened at around 11.10am local time (9.10am GMT).

French and Norwegian officials have said they are looking to gradually improve Ukraine’s relationship with western weapons industries to make the country more self-sufficient and free from political problems abroad.

The moves come as Ukraine begins the year with no additional foreign military support after packages in the US and the European Union were blocked.

In comments this morning, the French ambassador to Kyiv Gael Veyssiere said: “French support for the supply of military equipment is, of course, continuing.

“It will gradually change its nature, as the goal is to produce more weapons in Ukraine, rather than proceeding solely through donations or purchases.”

Earlier this week, the Norwegian government announced it had decided to permit direct sales of weapons from its industries to Ukraine’s ministry of defence, pending approval.

The move effectively bypasses Norway and France as middlemen in the donation or purchasing of weapons.

Russia has launched a massive, three-pronged aerial assault across Ukraine, killing at least five people and injuring more than a hundred more.

The attack, which targeted the capital of Kyiv and the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, in the east, was one of the deadliest campaigns since the war began in February 2022.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said on Tuesday evening that the attack killed five civilians and injured 127 as air defences downed Russian Kinzhal missiles that can fly at 10 times the speed of sound.

Norway will send two F-16 fighter jets to Denmark to contribute to the training of Ukrainian pilots on the use of the U.S.-made airplane, the Norwegian defence minister said on Wednesday.

F-16s have been on Ukraine‘s wish list as the country seeks to boost its air force in the war with Russia, and Norway last year said it would join Denmark, the Netherlands and others in donating aircraft.

Norway has already sent 10 instructors to Denmark to aid the education of Ukrainian pilots, Defence Minister Bjoern Arild Gram said in a statement.

The Norwegian air force has replaced its own F-16s with the successor model F-35.