At least five people were killed and dozens wounded in Russian drone and missiles strikes in and around Kyiv as well as Kharkiv on January 2 that Ukraine’s military said were similar in scale to a massive Russian attack just days earlier.
In Kyiv and nearby, three people were reported killed in an attack that caused widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure, triggering fires in several spots. In Kharkiv, one person was reported killed and 20 wounded in a major Russian strike on that city.
The attacks came a day after Russia launched a record 90 Shahed-type drones across Ukraine during the early hours of the new year. Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country would “intensify” its attacks on its neighbor.
Putin's warning on January 1 came after shelling of the Russian border city of Belgorod was reported to have killed more than two dozen people and wounded more than 100 others. Russia blamed Ukraine for that attack on December 30.
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said on X, formerly Twitter, that since December 29th, "Russia has used about 300 missiles and over 200 'Shahed' drones against Ukraine," praising Ukraine's air defense for shooting down many of the projectiles and asking the country's Western partners to send more air defense systems.
"Each additional air defense system and missile saves more lives. It is here, in Ukraine, and with our air defense, that we must demonstrate that democracies are capable of protecting lives from all types of terrorism," he said.
In another social media post, Zelenskiy said "Russia will answer for every life [that it has] taken away.”
The Ukrainian Air Force commander said Russia’s air strike on January 2 was a repeat of its major attack on December 29 in terms of the number and type of missiles.
On December 29, Russia bombarded Ukraine with about 158 missiles and drones.
The Ukrainian military's commander in chief, General Valeriy Zaluzhniy, said Ukrainian air defenses, strengthened with supplies by Kyiv’s allies, had downed 10 out of 10 Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missiles in the January 2 attacks as well as 59 of the 70 cruise missiles and all three Kalibr cruise missiles.
WATCH: Ukrainian rescuers managed to pull a family's pet birds from the debris of their damaged apartment block after a massive Russian aerial assault hit Kyiv and Kharkiv on January 2. RFE/RL journalist Roksolana Bychai captured the family's emotional reunion with their beloved pets.
Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said on January 2 that the city of 1.4 million had been targeted by "at least four strikes," which damaged multistory buildings and civilian infrastructure in the center.
Synyehubov later said a 91-year-old woman had been killed in a missile attack that left a meters-deep crater near damaged residential buildings. He also said that 45 people had been wounded in the attack in Kharkiv.
Russian Missiles Strike Ukraine's Largest Cities
Kyiv was rocked by explosions early on January 2, with Ukraine’s military saying air-defense systems had repelled a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian capital hours after Russian military drones were reported to have targeted the city.
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said 10 people were wounded by debris from destroyed missiles that had fallen in several districts, including on residential buildings.
"Explosions in the capital," Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app, urging people to stay safe.
Klitschko later reported that one person had died on the way to the hospital.
Klitschko also said that gas pipelines were damaged in Kyiv's Pecherskiy district and electricity was cut off in several buildings in the capital on January 2.
A married couple was killed and 11 people were hurt in the area outside Kyiv, the regional administration said. A dozen residential buildings and at least 60 cars were also damaged, it said, according to Reuters.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that it had destroyed all 35 attack drones that Russia launched after midnight that targeted several cities in Ukraine, including Kyiv.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on Kyiv's Western allies to accelerate supplies of air-defense systems, long-range missiles, and combat drones.
"We expect all states to strongly condemn the attack and take resolute action," Kuleba said on X, formerly Twitter, listing five steps that allies can take "right now."
"The terrorist regime in Moscow must realize that the international community will not turn a blind eye to the murder of civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine," Kuleba said.
In an interview with The Economist, Zelenskiy said that any indication that Putin is seeking peace talks is just a reflection of the fact that he is running out of troops and armaments.
Zelenskiy said a major focus of Ukrainian counterattacks going forward would be to diminish Russian forces' strength in Crimea, even as his military defends under-pressure cities in the east, where civilians increasingly are becoming victims of Russian drone and missile attacks.
"I see only the steps of a terrorist country," he said in the interview.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russia-installed governor of Sevastopol, said late on January 2 that Russia's air-defense systems had destroyed a Ukraine-launched missile over the Crimean port city. Razvozhayev said on Telegram there was no damage or casualties as a result of the attack.
In comments made on January 1 at a military hospital in the Moscow region, Putin called the shelling of Belgorod, which reportedly killed 25 people, a “terrorist attack” and vowed to intensify attacks against Ukraine.
He accused Ukraine of attacking civilian areas, while claiming that Moscow targets only military sites, despite Russian missile and drone strikes hitting residential and civilian areas in Ukraine.
Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat rejected Putin's comments about responding to the shelling of Belgorod. Ihnat said Putin only tries to show Russians that their country's forces avenge everything.
"They take the most brutal pictures...and show that this is a great retribution," Ihnat said, speaking on a program of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service. He asked what reaction there had been to the recent downing of Russian planes and the sinking of a Russian warship.
"Are these all reactions, or how should it be perceived?" he asked. "And the war against Ukraine in general is a reaction to what?"
