New Year's Eve was not too quiet for the Russian soldiers deployed in the barracks of Makiivka, in the Donetsk region. This Monday, the Kremlin's defence department confirmed that 63 soldiers deployed in these barracks were killed after a missile attack by the Ukrainian army. The Donetsk region, currently controlled by Russia, was annexed last September after a controversial "referendum" organized by the Russian administration. Today, the Ukrainian army continues its offensive to try and regain these territories they claim as their own.
"The Kiev regime attacked with six HIMARS missiles, produced in the United States, a temporary headquarters of one of the Russian military units in the locality of Makiivka," declared the Russian command's Spokesperson, Igor Konashenkov, who affirmed that the Russian anti-aircraft defence defeated two of the six projectiles. According to Defence, "as a result of the impact of four missiles, 63 Russian servicemen were killed", adding that the families and relatives of the dead servicemen "will receive all the necessary help and support". The Ukrainian command, for its part, reported this attack on its Facebook account, noting that "Santa Claus packed 400 corpses of Russian pigs", as well as over 300 wounded.
In recent weeks, and months, after the start of the Ukrainian counteroffensive to try and regain the territories annexed by Russia, the Ukrainian army has managed to successfully attack different Russian military barracks located in the border or disputed areas. These attacks have raised a wave of criticism from bloggers and Internet users who have always been in favour of the invasion of Ukraine, but now criticize that there are numerous Russian soldiers concentrated in areas easily reached by Ukrainian missiles.
Russian offensive against Kyiv
The Ukrainian Army explained on Monday that it was able to intercept and neutralize a large part of the drones and missiles launched by Russia against the country on a massive scale last night. "The Ukrainian Defence Forces destroyed a total of 39 drones launched by Russian forces against the country, along with 2 reconnaissance UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) of the Orlan-10 type and an air-launched guided missile of the Kh-59 type, on the night of January 1st-2nd, 2023," said the Ukrainian Army Air Force command.
For his part, Vitali Klitschko, mayor of Kyiv, one of the cities affected by Monday's shelling, confirmed that "Russian occupants launched a large-scale attack with 'kamikaze drones' of the Iranian-made Shahed-131/136 type." Although the Ukrainian Army reported the number of drones and missiles intercepted, the total number of devices launched by Russia in the last hours is unknown, although it has been confirmed that some have managed to hit electrical installations and civilian buildings.