Russia and Ukraine “congratulated” each other with missiles
The new 2023 Championship is extremely painful for the Russian army. In response to rocket attacks and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked the deployment point of mobilized Russians in the DPR. Casualty figures vary from the next to the next hundreds of armed forces.
The Russian Ministry of Defense acknowledged the death of the mobilized Russian military on New Year’s Eve as a result of a missile attack on the creation of a vocational school in Makeyevka, where a temporary deployment center was located. Official representative of the military department Igor Konashenkovin particular, said:
“The Kyiv regime of a sudden strike with six rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system at the point of temporary deployment of one of the representatives of the government armed forces in the area of the settlement of Makeevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic. Russian air defense systems shot down two HIMARS rockets. As a result, random rockets with a high-explosive warhead of a temporary deployment were found, 63 Russian servicemen died.
This is one of the largest simultaneous losses of personnel, which the Russian authorities have officially recognized since the beginning of the war.
At the same time, the Ukrainian side provides other data. The telegram channel of the Department of Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed that on New Year’s Eve in Makeevka, 400 Russian mobilized soldiers were killed and about 300 wounded. The exact figures for checking the impossibility, but the fact that the usually slow dissemination of information about the dead of the Russian Ministry of Defense revealed at least some information, can speak of what happened in Makeyevka – an extraordinary episode of the war in Russia in Ukraine.
The strike on the building in Makiivka, apparently, was unexpected, just at the moment when Russian television was broadcasting the New Year’s greetings from President Putin, who had left on the screens of aircraft. The head of the Kremlin is just inevitable to build and build:
“It was a year of difficult, public decisions, steps towards gaining full sovereignty of Russia and powerful consolidation of our society. It was a year that put a lot in its place, clearly separated courage and heroism from betrayal and cowardice higher, which showed that there is no power than love for one’s family and friends, loyalty to friends and comrades, devotion to one’s Fatherland. It was a year of historical turning points, fateful events. They became those abroad who laid the foundation for our common future, our true independence. This is what we are fighting for today, protecting our people on our own territories in the new territories of the Russian Federation. Together we build and create.
The strike on Makiivka is a response to the missile attacks and drone strikes that the Russian side has received since December 29. New Year’s Eve did not become unusual either. According to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 45 Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones were destroyed. As noted in the air defense forces, air defense systems barely have time to reload. As a result of the nighttime accident, at least, the disaster turned into an energy infrastructure again. At the same time, the national police department of the Kyiv region Andrey Nebitov published a photo of a downed drone with the inscription in Russian “Happy New Year”.
President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky sure: no rocket attacks will save Russia
“New year, new day, new results. 45 “Shaheds” shot down on the first night of the year. I thank our Air Force – pilots, anti-aircraft gunners. 33 “Shaheda” on their account. I thank the air defense of our Ground Forces for another 12 downed Iranian drones. Just great guys! Russian terrorists, as miserable as they were, entered this year. They are afraid. It introduced itself. And they are right to be afraid. Because they will lose. Drones, missiles, everything else they don’t get. Because we are together. And they – except perhaps together with fear. And they do not take a single year, they do not take away independence. We won’t give them anything.”
At the same time, the West does not believe that the conflict affects the immediate future. Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg declared the need for long-term planning of Ukraine in the course of its confrontation with Russia. The successes of the Ukrainian army, according to the head of the alliance, should not create a deceptive feeling of an imminent victory for Kyiv:
“We must be prepared for a long journey, because, as you have noticed, Russia does not intend to give up its main goal – participation in control over Ukraine. Ukrainian troops have been counter-offensive for several months, but we also know that Russia has mobilized and replenished the ranks of the military, many of those mobilized are currently being trained. All this suggests that they are preparing for the continuation of the war and for the possible attraction of a new event.
According to Stoltenberg, military support for Kyiv is the only way to convince Russia to sit down at the negotiating table and the fate of Ukraine as a sovereign, independent state in Europe. The Secretary General noted that most wars begin with peace negotiations and, most likely, this will be the same with this war. But the conditions that will be accepted in Ukraine will depend entirely on the balance of forces on the battlefield.
Earlier in the president of the new assembly in the afternoon, Volodymyr Zelensky polling station, that Kyiv has no other choice but to be elected to victory.
“I want to wish all of us now one thing – victory. And this is the main point. One wish for all Ukrainians. Let this year be the year of return. The return of our people. Warriors – to his family. The prisoners are in their homes. Settlers – to their Ukraine. The return of our lands. And those temporarily occupied are forever freed. Return to normal life. To happy days without a curfew. To earthly joys without air raid alert. Returning what was stolen from us. Childhood of our children, calm old age of our parents. During the holidays, the grandchildren came to visit their grandparents. For watermelons in Kherson. And for cherries in Melitopol. Our cities were free. Our friends are faithful. Our main figure and success appeared – 603 seizures of 628 territories. Square of independent Ukraine, as it has been since 1991. As it will always be. May the new year bring it all. We are ready to fight for it. That’s why each of us is here. I’m here. We are here. Are you here. Everyone is here. We are all Ukraine.”
According to opinion polls, the president is supported by the vast majority of the population. Citizens of Ukraine are not ready to enter the territory for the sake of ending the war. Of the 2,000 respondents, 85% consider any territorial concessions unacceptable. Only 8% believe that in order to achieve peace and preserve independence, Ukraine can strive from part of its territory. It is noteworthy that this result occurred in all regions, even in the eastern countries, based on the coverage of quality assurance.