The Russian-Ukrainian War at a Glance: What We Know as of Day 313 of the Invasion | Russia

Kyiv was hit by an “air strike” early Monday with debris from a destroyed drone injuring one person, the city’s mayor said. Air raid sirens were announced just before midnight and explosions were reported in the Desnianskiy district, northeast of the capital, with a 19-year-old man taken to hospital. The city’s military administration reported that 12 air targets were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses on Monday night.

Ukraine’s regional military command in the east of the country says air defense systems destroyed nine Iranian-made Shahed drones over the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions in the early hours of Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy added that “45 ‘Shaheds’ were shot on the first night of the year”, in his Monday evening speech.

Ukraine’s top defense officials have said they believe Russia will attempt a second invasion from the north within the next two months., using troops who have been training for three months since their mobilization in October. But Ukrainian forces defending the border say the Russians will not be able to break through as they did in February, when the Sumy region had no defensive lines. Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and its Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi have singled out February as a possible time for a reinvasion attempt.

Russia claimed that Ukrainian forces shelled the town of Makiivka and other areas of Ukraine’s Donetsk region which he occupies. The Moscow-based administration of Donetsk region said on Sunday that at least 25 rockets were fired at the region on New Year’s Eve night, with reports that military quarters had been hit, killing many people. Daniil Bezsonov, a senior Russian-backed official in the region, said there had been a “striking blow” to a vocational school, which preliminary information said served as quarters for military personnel. “There were deaths and injuries, the exact number is still unknown,” Bezsonov said on the Telegram messaging app.

Zelenskiy said his only wish for the Ukrainians for 2023 is victory as he is determined to stay the course. “I want to wish us all one thing – victory,” he said in a video message shortly before midnight on Saturday. Zelenskiy reiterated that he will stand with his people as they fight for freedom. “We were told to surrender. We chose a counterattack,” he said. “We are ready to fight for this [freedom]. This is why each of us is here. I am here, we are here, you are here, everyone is here. We are all Ukrainians.

Russia has claimed its strikes against Ukraine on New Year’s Eve – including the launch of more than 20 cruise missiles that killed at least three people – were aimed at its neighbor’s drone production. A children’s hospital was among the buildings reportedly hit by Russian shelling. Ukrainian officials say Russia deliberately targets civilians to sow fear.

Russian leaders released a series of provocative messages ahead of the New Year. President Vladimir Putin said Russia would “never give in” to the West and was fighting for its “homeland, truth and justice… so that Russia’s security can be guaranteed”.