Closing summary
Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and the north-eastern city of Kharkiv killed at least five people on Tuesday and injured dozens of others, Ukrainian officials said. Officials said the attacks caused widespread damage and hit power supplies. Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said gas pipelines had been damaged in Kyiv’s Pecherskyi district, while electricity and water had been cut off in several districts of the capital. Heating and water supplies were damaged in Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
One man was killed and seven people were injured on Tuesday in a Ukrainian attack on the city and region of Belgorod, near Russia’s border with Ukraine, the defence ministry and regional officials said.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, urged faster supplies of air defence systems, combat drones and long-range missiles, the ministry said. It said Kuleba called on Ukraine’s western partners to respond to a new Russian strike on Ukraine by “accelerating the supply of additional air defence systems, combat drones of all types, long-range missiles with a range of 300+ km”.
Russia said it had accidentally bombed a village in its southern Voronezh region near Ukraine. In a statement quoted by Russian news agencies, the Russian army said: “On 2 January 2024, at around 9am Moscow time (GMT), during a flight of the aerospace forces, an abnormal discharge of aircraft ammunition occurred over the village of Petropavlovka in the Voronezh region. There are no casualties.”
Lithuania’s president, Gitanas Nausėda, and Latvia’s president, Edgars Rinkēvičs, have called for more air defence systems for Ukraine after Russia’s large-scale missile attack on Tuesday.
Nausėda wrote on X that “Ukrainians do wonders with the air defence the west has provided, but they need more,” adding “air defence systems to Ukraine now!”.
Rinkēvičs, meanwhile, wrote that “Ukrainian air defence works well, but Ukraine must get more help,” adding that western countries must get “serious”.
Another set of brutal Russian air strikes against Kyiv this morning, innocent civilians again being victims of the Russian terrorism. Ukrainian air defense works well but Ukraine must get more help. New Year’s celebrations are over and the West must get serious and act now
— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) January 2, 2024
Updated
Here is an update on the situation in Belgorod, near Russia’s border with Ukraine:
One man was killed and seven people were injured on Tuesday in a Ukrainian attack on the city and region of Belgorod, the defence ministry and regional officials said.
The regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said the man was killed by a missile that landed next to his car, and four people had been injured at a vehicle market, Reuters reports.
Overall, officials said Russian air defences had shot down 17 Ukrainian “air targets” including rockets fired from multiple missile launchers, and that a number of houses and cars had been damaged.
Updated
The national energy company Ukrenergo said 250,000 consumers were without electricity in Kyiv and surrounding areas after the strikes on the capital.
Temperatures in the region were hovering close to 3C, according to Agence France-Presse.
Updated
Turkey said on Tuesday it would not allow two British minehunter ships to transit its waters en route to the Black Sea for use by Ukraine since it would violate an international pact concerning wartime passage of the straits, Reuters reports.
Britain said last month it would transfer two Royal Navy minehunter ships to the Ukrainian navy to help strengthen the country’s sea operations in its war with Russia.
Turkey, a Nato member, informed allies that it would not allow the vessels to use its Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits while the war in Ukraine continued, said the presidency’s communications directorate.
When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Turkey triggered the 1936 Montreux convention, in effect blocking passage of military ships for the warring parties. The pact exempts ships from returning to home bases.
Turkey had implemented the convention impartially and meticulously to prevent escalation in the Black Sea, the presidency said.
Ankara has maintained good ties with Kyiv and Moscow throughout the war.
Updated
Andriy Kostin, Ukraine’s prosecutor general, said at least 115 people had been injured in Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and the north-eastern city of Kharkiv on Tuesday. Five deaths have been reported so far.
On X, Kostin said “children and entire families” were among those injured and called the attacks “a blatant act of terrorism”.
Russia is once again trying to plunge Ukraine into darkness with a large-scale attack on civilian infrastructure. We have official information about 5 people killed. At least 115 have been injured, including children and entire families. Rescue efforts continue. Prosecutors and… pic.twitter.com/rtM93RgfYt
— Andriy Kostin (@AndriyKostinUa) January 2, 2024
Updated
Russian airstrikes on a residential building in the city of Orikhiv, in Zaporizhzhia oblast, on Tuesday injured a 75-year-old woman, the governor, Yuriy Malashko, reported.
He wrote on Telegram:
As a result of the strike, the house was mutilated, and the entire entrance was destroyed.
A resident of one of the apartments in the building, a 75-year-old woman, was taken to the hospital with injuries.
Another act of genocide against peaceful people. Only because they are Ukrainians. Because they are Unbreakable!
Updated
Moscow said on Tuesday it had downed nine missiles fired by Kyiv over Russia’s Belgorod border region (see earlier post at 10.50 for more details).
Russian missile attacks kill five people in Ukraine, officials say
Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and the north-eastern city of Kharkiv killed at least five people on Tuesday and injured dozens of others, Ukrainian officials said. The figure was put at four earlier.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, wrote on Telegram that two people had died after a high-rise building caught fire from a Russian rocket attack in the Solomyansky district of the Ukrainian capital.
In Kharkiv, a 91-year-old woman was killed in a missile attack that left a metres-deep crater near damaged residential buildings, Oleh Synehubov, Kharkiv’s regional governor, said.
A married couple were killed and 11 people were hurt in the area outside Kyiv, the regional administration said.
Updated
Energy workers have restored power for some residents of the Sviatoshynskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, Obolonskyi, and Podilskyi districts of Kyiv after the Russian missile attack on Tuesday, the Ukrainian energy company DTEK reported.
About 86,000 people remained without electricity in Kyiv and the wider Kyiv region, the energy ministry said, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Updated
Summary of the day so far...
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, urged faster supplies of air defence systems, combat drones and long-range missiles, the ministry said. It said Kuleba called on Ukraine’s western partners to respond to a new Russian strike on Ukraine by “accelerating the supply of additional air defence systems, combat drones of all types, long-range missiles with a range of 300+ km”.
Russia said it had accidentally bombed a village in its southern Voronezh region near Ukraine. In a statement quoted by Russian news agencies, the Russian army said: “On 2 January 2024, at around 9am Moscow time (GMT), during a flight of the aerospace forces, an abnormal discharge of aircraft ammunition occurred over the village of Petropavlovka in the Voronezh region. There are no casualties.”
Officials said Russian missile attacks on Ukraine on Tuesday have so far killed four people, according to Agence France-Presse. As well as the reported death in Kharkiv and the death of the woman reported by the mayor, Vitali Klitschko, in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, the country’s interior minister, Igor Klymenko, said two people were killed in the Kyiv region. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said “Russia will answer for every life taken away” after the attacks.
The owner of one of Britain’s biggest oil refineries has extended a loan facility with an arm of an oil company founded and part-owned by a Russian billionaire who is under sanctions.
Essar Oil (UK), which owns and operates the Stanlow oil refinery near the River Mersey in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, stopped all imports of Russian fuel in 2022, in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine.
The decision came after unionised dockworkers refused to unload Russian cargoes at Stanlow, which supplies 16% of UK road fuel, while the government later imposed a ban on imports that might benefit the Kremlin.
You can read the full story here:
Updated
One man was seriously injured on Tuesday in a Ukrainian attack on the Russian city of Belgorod, according to the governor of the region.
Russian air defence systems shot down four “air targets” that had been approaching the city, Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram, not specifying what the targets were.
Emergencies services were inspecting for damage, he added.
Vladimir Putin said Ukrainian bombardment of Belgorod on Saturday, in which Russia says 25 civilians were reported to have been killed, “will not go unpunished”.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images coming out from Kyiv on the newswires:
Updated
Poland said planes protecting its airspace had returned to base after the threat level related to the Russian strikes on Ukraine had reduced.
Writing on X, the Polish army’s operational command said:
Due to the reduced level of threat, the operations of Polish and allied aircraft on duty in our airspace have been ended.
The resources returned to their bases and standard operating activities.
According to the general staff of the Polish armed forces, a Russian missile entered the airspace of the Nato member at the end of December.
In November 2022, a stray Ukrainian missile struck the Polish village of Przewodów in the south, killing two people and raising fears at the time of the war in Ukraine spilling over the border.
In April, a military object was found in a forest close to the village of Zamość near the northern city of Bydgoszcz. It was later reported to be a Russian missile.
Updated
Zelenskiy: Russia will answer for every life taken away
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has vowed a response after the latest Russian airstrike on Ukraine, saying “Russia will answer for every life taken away”.
In a video posted to Telegram, he said Russia launched almost 100 missiles of various types in its latest attack.
“At least 70 missiles were shot down. Almost 60 of them are in the Kyiv region. Kharkiv was also hit hard,” Zelenskiy wrote.
Updated
Ukraine's foreign minister urges faster supplies of air defence systems
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, urged faster supplies of air defence systems, combat drones and long-range missiles, the ministry said.
It said Kuleba called on Ukraine’s western partners to respond to a new Russian strike on Ukraine by “accelerating the supply of additional air defence systems, combat drones of all types, long-range missiles with a range of 300+ km”.
A statement also said he had called on partners to make “a decision to transfer frozen Russian assets for the needs of Ukraine and terminating contacts with Russian diplomats in the relevant capitals and international organisations”.
Last month, US Congress failed to approve a further $50bn (£39bn) in security aid for Ukraine as negotiators fell short of a deal, with Republicans demanding a domestic border crackdown.
Ukraine is separately waiting to receive a €50bn (£43.5bn) package from the EU, delivery of which has looked uncertain after Hungary blocked the EU from approving the aid.
The failure to pass the two funding bills has frustrated Ukrainian officials, who have warned that any change in policy from the west could have a strong impact on the course of the war.
Updated
Russia accidentally bombs own village near Ukraine
Russia said it had accidentally bombed a village in its southern Voronezh region near Ukraine on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reported.
The accident occurred the same day as Russia hit Ukraine with a large-scale missile attack.
In a statement quoted by Russian news agencies, the Russian army said:
On 2 January 2024, at around 9am Moscow time (GMT), during a flight of the aerospace forces, an abnormal discharge of aircraft ammunition occurred over the village of Petropavlovka in the Voronezh region.
There are no casualties.
The ministry said six private houses were damaged in the accident, Russian news agencies reported.
“An investigation into the circumstances of the incident is under way. A commission is working on the ground to assess the nature of the damage and provide assistance to restoring houses,” the statement read.
The governor of the Voronezh region, Alexander Gusev, said some of the residents of Petropavlovka, 93 miles east of the Ukraine border, have been moved to temporary accommodation.
He also said there were no casualties but acknowledged there was “destruction recorded in seven households”.
Updated
Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s security council, has said only the “methodical destruction” of “Putin’s fascist formation” will ensure the security of Ukraine and the rest of the world.
“We have fought and will continue to fight, no matter how many missiles are flying in our sky,” he wrote in a lengthy post on X.
Only the systematic, consistent and methodical destruction of putin's fascist formation is the only guarantee of security for Ukraine and the world, and the absence of a missile threat to peaceful cities. Give Ukraine weapons, and we will bury this piece of...
— Oleksiy Danilov (@OleksiyDanilov) January 2, 2024
We have fought and…
Updated
Ukraine’s army chief has said the air defenders shot down 10 Kinzhal missiles, 59 cruise missiles and three Kalibr missiles launched by Russia.
Writing on Telegram, Valerii Zaluzhnyi said Kyiv was the main target of the Russian missile and drone strike.
Updated
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said four people had been killed and at least 92 injured in a Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine.
He said Russia had launched about 170 Shahed attack drones and dozens of different missiles at Ukraine since 31 December.
Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram:
For the third day already, our air defenders are doing incredible work. I thank all partners who help to strengthen our air shield. And it’s obvious it helps save hundreds of lives every day and every night that would have been taken by Russian terror if it weren’t for Patriots and other defence systems.
Updated
Russian missile attacks kill four people in Ukraine, officials say
Officials said Russian missile attacks on Ukraine on Tuesday have so far killed four people, according to Agence France-Presses.
As well as the reported death in Kharkiv and the death of the woman reported by the mayor, Vitali Klitschko, in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, the country’s interior minister, Igor Klymenko, said two people were killed in the Kyiv region.
Updated
The Associated Press says at least two people were killed after the Russian attacks on Kharkiv and Kyiv, quoting officials.
As we reported earlier, Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region of north-eastern Ukraine, said one person died and 41 were injured in at least six strikes that hit the centre of Kharkiv and other areas.
In Kyiv, the capital, five areas were hit in strikes that killed an older woman and injured at least 27 people, according to the mayor, Vitali Klitschko.
Updated
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, has condemned the “massive Russian attack” on Kyiv and Kharkiv after the country’s two largest cities came under heavy ballistic missile bombardments.
She wrote on X:
The massive Russian attack on Kyiv and Kharkiv means dozens of injured civilians, residential buildings on fire. Unfortunately, we have casualties.
Speaking of war fatigue, it is worth remembering: the enemy is not tired of killing every day. Only force will stop him.
Масована російська атака на Київ і Харків — це десятки постраждалих мирних людей, житлові будинки у вогні. На жаль, маємо загиблих. Кажучи про втому від війни, варто пам'ятати: ворог не втомився вбивати щодня. Його зупинить лише сила. 🇺🇦 має силу духу, але потребує сили зброї. pic.twitter.com/sEl30IGeRs
— Олена Зеленська (@ZelenskaUA) January 2, 2024
In the Pechersk district of Kyiv, debris hit the roof of a nine-storey building and another multi-storey building, the military administration said.
Fires also broke out in a supermarket and a warehouse, the mayor said.
During the night, fragments of ballistic missiles fell on apartment buildings in Kyiv, interrupting water and electricity supplies in some areas, Gyunduz Mamedov, a former deputy prosecutor general of Ukraine, wrote on X.
Here is an update on the situation on the ground in Kyiv.
As a result of a missile attack in Solomyansky district, two multistorey residential buildings caught fire, injuring 10 people.
In the Podilsky district, a fire broke out at a market, a gas pipe was damaged and debris fell on a non-residential building.
Fires also erupted in other districts due to falling debris.
Additionally, the missile attack disrupted the electricity and water supply in some areas.
Updated
The Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, has an update on a building where 117 residents were evacuated: at least 20 were injured.
He added that there was fire and heavy smoke in the building.
Updated
Kira Rudik, a member of Ukrainian parliament, said her home was “partially in rubble” and she had sustained minor injuries.
My home is now partially in rubble. I have no windows on one side anymore. I have minor injuries but I am alive. The fires are everywhere. russia you will pay. pic.twitter.com/rLaITQowkV
— Kira Rudik (@kiraincongress) January 2, 2024
Updated
Poland said F-16 fighter jets and an allied air tanker were put into action today to protect Polish airspace amid Russia’s strikes on Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Updated
Forty-one people were injured in Kharkiv as a result of Russia’s attack this morning, according to Oleh Syniehubov, the regional governor.
One woman was killed, he said in the Telegram post.
Updated
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, the chair of the Ukrainian parliament’s committee on European integration, cautioned on social media that “it’s probably the biggest attack” on Kyiv and Ukraine “as a whole since the start of full-scale invasion”.
“Urgent action in providing additional air defence capabilities needed. However, this war won’t be over till RU is defeated. Time to agree on this common goal – evil must be destroyed,” she added.
It's probably the biggest attack on Kyiv & UA as a whole since the start of full-scale invasion. Urgent action in providing additional airdefense capabilities needed. However, this war won't be over till RU is defeated. Time to agree on this common goal - Evil must be destroyed.
— Ivanna Klympush (@IKlympush) January 2, 2024
Updated
The Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said in a Telegram post that 16 people had been injured in a building that caught fire after a Russian rocket attack. Fifteen of those injured had been hospitalised, he said.
Updated
Lesia Vasylenko, a Ukrainian member of parliament, shared alerts received over the past days in the capital. “Out New Year in Kyiv was spent in air raids and bomb shelters,” she said.
Our New Year in #Kyiv was spent in air raids and bomb shelters pic.twitter.com/CJlafJnaZq
— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) January 2, 2024
The U.S. ambassador in Kyiv, Bridget A. Brink, has reacted to Russia’s attacks targeting Kyiv and other parts of the country.
Putin is ringing in 2024 by launching missiles at Kyiv and around the country as millions of Ukrainians again take shelter in freezing temps. Loud explosions in Kyiv this morning. It’s urgent and critical that we support Ukraine now - to stop Putin here.
Putin is ringing in 2024 by launching missiles at Kyiv and around the country as millions of Ukrainians again take shelter in freezing temps. Loud explosions in Kyiv this morning. It’s urgent and critical that we support Ukraine now - to stop Putin here.
— Ambassador Bridget A. Brink (@USAmbKyiv) January 2, 2024
The attacks on Kyiv early Tuesday came after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said on Monday that Ukraine’s strikes on Belgorod “will not go unpunished.”
Local officials said the strike killed 25 people including five children. It followed Moscow’s large-scale attack on Ukrainian cities on Friday, which killed more than 40 people and injured 160.
“We’re going to intensify the strikes. No crime against civilians will rest unpunished, that’s for certain,” Putin said on Monday during a visit to a military hospital. Read more here.
Updated
More detail is emerging about the Russian missile attack on Kyiv – at least 10 people were wounded, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital, Vitali Klitschko, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Here are some recent images of the conflict:
Updated
Russia launched a total of 35 attack drones at Ukraine in the early hours of Monday, Ukraine’s air force said, with air defence systems destroying all of them.
Downed drone debris sparked a fire at a residential building in one of Kyiv’s districts following a drone attack the capital, Ukrainian officials said.
The Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said on the Telegram messaging app that the loud explosions heard in the city were the work of air defence systems engaged in repelling the attack. Falling drone debris caused a fire in Desnianskyi, he said. The district, on the east bank of the Dnipro River, is Kyiv’s most populous.
Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said emergency services were also dispatched to Holosiivskyi district along the west bank of the Dnipro. There were no immediate reports of casualties, Popko said on Telegram.
Updated
Loud explosions in Kyiv
Ukraine’s air force said multiple missiles were flying towards the capital Kyiv early on Tuesday, shortly after nationwide air alerts were raised due to a threat from Russian bombers.
A series of more than 10 loud explosions were heard by Agence France-Presse journalists in Kyiv on Tuesday morning, shaking buildings in the centre.
The city’s military administration said fragments of downed rockets had fallen in several districts including on residential buildings. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said power had gone out in several areas of the capital.
“Kyiv – stay in shelters. Many missiles heading in your direction,” the air force said on Telegram.
The air force said Russians were launching Kinzhal missiles and more were heading towards the capital. Strikes have hit the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, said the head of the military administration, Oleg Sinegubov.
Updated
Summary
Hello, this is the starting point for the Guardian’s daily live coverage of the Russian war against Ukraine.
Russia has launched a missile attack on Kyiv hours after a drone attack, the capital’s military administration has said. The assault comes after Russian president Vladimir Putin vowed to intensify strikes on Ukraine after an unprecedented and deadly attack by Ukraine on the Russian city of Belgorod over the weekend.
Russia launched a total of 35 attack drones at Ukraine in the early hours of Monday, Ukraine’s air force said, with air defence systems destroying all the drones.
Downed drone debris sparked a fire at a residential building in Desnianskyi, one of Kyiv’s most populous districts, Ukrainian officials said.
More on that soon. Here is a summary of the most recent developments:
The death toll following Ukrainian strikes on Belgorod has risen to 25, according to the region’s governor. Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Monday a four-year-old girl died from injuries sustained in the attack. The attack on Saturday came after Moscow launched a large-scale attack on Ukrainian cities on Friday.
Ukraine claims Russia has launched a ‘record number’ of attack drones on New Year’s Day. Ukraine’s air force said 87 out of 90 drones had successfully been shot down.
Russian drones attacked a university and a museum linked to two of the most prominent 20th century defenders of Ukrainian national identity on Monday, leaving locals vowing to repair the damage. The first smashed windows and much of the roof at the National Agrarian University, outside the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, where Stepan Bandera – a hero in Ukraine but a villain according to the Kremlin – studied. The second ravaged a nearby museum devoted to Roman Shukhevych.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the Economist that the notion that Russia was winning the nearly two-year-old war was only a “feeling” and that Moscow was still suffering heavy battlefield losses. Zelenskiy, in an interview published on Monday, provided no substantiation of his allegation on Russian losses. He said Ukraine’s priorities in 2024 included hitting Russia’s strengths in Crimea to reduce the number of attacks on his country as well as protecting key cities on the eastern front.
In the interview, Zelenskiy rejected any suggestion that Moscow was interested in peace talks, pointing to Moscow’s repeated waves of aerial strikes. “I see only the steps of a terrorist country,” he said.
