Two days before the biggest and most important celebration of the year in Ukraine, Russia attacked a number of Ukrainian cities. The attack is the largest in a long time, and at least 20 people are said to have been killed. – This is to frighten and terrorize the Ukrainians before the New Year, to show Ukraine that they should not be able to celebrate without fear, says Arkady Moshes to news. The New Year’s celebration is the biggest celebration of the year in both Russia and Ukraine, says Moshes. He is Russian himself, but lives in Finland and works at the Finnish Institute for International Relations. Arkady Moshes, head of research at the Finnish Institute for International Affairs in Helsinki, says Ukraine is running out of weapons. Photo: Finnish Institute of International Affairs The violent attacks hit the cities of Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhya. At least 28 people were killed and rockets hit both hospitals and residential areas, according to Ukrainian authorities. People seek refuge from the attacks at a subway station in Kyiv. Photo: SERGEI CHUZAVKOV / AFP – This is a show of strength from Russia, says Moshes. A Russian missile is said to have also crossed Poland’s airspace, according to a Polish general. Poland is a member of the NATO defense alliance, where one of the pillars is Article 5: An attack against one member is an attack against all. The Russian missile will still have no military consequences, Moshes believes. – No one in the West wants a direct military confrontation with Russia, he says. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says in a statement that he has spoken to the Polish president and that they are waiting and monitoring the situation. – NATO stands in solidarity with our highly valued ally. (…) NATO is following along, writes Stoltenberg on X, formerly Twitter. Several cities hit The Ukrainian defense writes that they are exposed to a large, coordinated air attack. A spokesman says they haven’t had this much enemy air activity on their radar systems for “a very long time”. A firefighter works at a damaged warehouse in Kyiv, Friday morning. Photo: VALENTYN OGIRENKO / Reuters President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday morning that Russia had fired 158 missiles and drones at Ukraine, and that 114 of them had been shot down. This should be a record number of rockets fired in one day. Zelenskyj says hospitals, schools, a shopping mall, apartment buildings and warehouses have been hit. In addition, other critical infrastructure in Lviv and the port of Odesa will be hit. Putin and Russia have since the invasion denied that civilians are the targets of their military operations in the country. A shopping mall in Dnipro was hit during the attack. Photo: Astra Telegram In addition, a subway station that has been used as a bomb shelter is said to have been hit. The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy reports that large areas will be without electricity as a result of the attack. A Russian missile explodes in the air over Kyiv. Photo: GLEB GARANICH / Reuters Putin’s revenge? On Christmas Day, Ukraine sank the Russian landing craft “Novotcherkassk” in the attack against the port city of Feodosia in the east of the annexed Crimean peninsula. The ship was loaded with weapons for the Russian forces at the front in eastern Ukraine, and there were said to have been more than 60 people on board when the attack occurred. Shortly after the sinking of the Russian ship, Russia sent a total of 46 attack drones against Ukraine. Arkady Moshes does not think revenge is the main motive of Russia now. – Russia will show strength and how many weapons they have. It is also a signal to the West that they have no intention of giving up and that the West must quickly choose what to do, says Moshes to news. Moshes believes that there will be more powerful Russian attacks in the future. There was smoke over Kyiv, Friday morning. Photo: GLEB GARANICH / Reuters Ukraine’s president promises that he will respond to the “terrorist attack”. But how? Arkady Moshes says Ukraine is running out of weapons. It is therefore up to the West to decide whether they want to increase arms production and deliveries to Ukraine, he says. If the West does not deliver more weapons, Ukraine will fall within the next six months, Moshes believes. – Have shot with almost everything they have Lars Peder Haga has Russian air power and military power as special fields at the Air Force Academy. He, too, is concerned about Ukraine’s dwindling arsenal. – What is scary is that Russia has now forced Ukraine to use much of its air defense. That is certainly part of the purpose. To clear Ukraine of anti-aircraft missiles. He believes that there will be more attacks in “quite a short time” – the Russians have fired with almost everything they have. They have used both Iranian Shahed drones and air-launched cruise missiles. Associate Professor Lars Peder Haga. Photo: Luftkrigskolen The next attack could be that Russia uses cruise missiles to overwhelm the Ukrainian air defence, says Haga.
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