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Kyiv [Ukraine]Jan. 1 (ANI): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused Russia of waging a war so that its president, Vladimir Putin, could remain in power “until the the end of his life”.
Russia was “going with the flow,” he said, apparently addressing Putin. It follows a series of deadly attacks by Moscow that have swept across parts of Ukraine ahead of the New Year.
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Switching to Russian in his Saturday evening speech, Zelensky had a message for the Kremlin, saying: “All this war you started, you — Russia, it’s not a war with NATO, as yours That’s what the propagandists say.”
He added: “It’s not about something historic. It’s about a man staying in power until the end of his life and all of you, citizens of Russia, have nothing to do with him,” he added.
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“The Russian leader is hiding behind the army, behind the missiles, behind the walls of his residences and palaces” and behind his people, Zelensky said.
“He hid behind you and burned your country and your future. No one will forgive you for the horror,” he stressed.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmikhal said earlier that Moscow wanted to create darkness so that the country would “spend the New Year in darkness,” according to CNN.
Moscow intends to “intimidate, keep us in the dark for the new year, and cause as much damage as possible to civilian infrastructure,” Shmyhal said on Telegram.
“Civilian infrastructure was attacked in different parts of our country. Residential buildings, hotels, (a) shops, festival sites were damaged. There were deaths and injuries,” he wrote.
“The Russians want to intimidate, keep us in the dark and do as much damage to civilian infrastructure as possible.”
Russia has shelled critical infrastructure across Ukraine in recent weeks, leaving much of the country without heat and electricity amid a harsh winter, CNN reported.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that 20 people were injured in the capital Kyiv, 14 of whom were hospitalized and six others were treated at the scene.
The mayor added that several school buildings in the capital were badly damaged in the blast.
Air defenses then fought off a wave of Iranian drones after air raid sirens were activated following the attack in Kyiv, CNN reported.
Emergency services were called to the scene, but according to preliminary information, there were no injuries.
Farther east, in the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions, Russian airstrikes killed at least six people, CNN reported.
Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said in a telegram that three people were killed and three were injured in the Donetsk region.
One person was injured in the Zaporizhzhia area. Two people were killed and one injured in the Kharkiv region. Two people were injured in the Kherson region and one person died in the Chernihiv region.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Saturday that this came after Russia fired five missiles and carried out 29 airstrikes on Friday.
“26 of the enemy’s air strikes were directed at civilian infrastructure. In particular, the occupiers used 10 Shahed-136 drones, but all were shot down. In addition, the enemy conducted 80 attacks using multiple rocket launchers, Civilian settlements were also attacked,” the General Staff said in its latest operational update.
Russia “continues offensive operations in the direction of Leman and Bakhmut and attempts to improve the tactical situation in the direction of Kupiansk and Avdivka,” it said.
Russian troops opened fire on several towns and villages in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, including in the direction of Lyman, Bakhmut. (Arnie)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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