Selenskyj: "You hold back the evil"
The new year in Ukraine begins as the old one ended: with shelling, destruction and death. In his New Year's Eve address, President Zelensky nevertheless encouraged the Ukrainians: the new year will be "the way we want it and the way we will shape it".
Ukraine and Russia accused each other of attacks early on New Year's morning. According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia carried out attacks on the regions of Mykolaiv, Odessa and Dnipro. At least one person was killed in the Russian airstrike on Odessa, the governor of the Odessa region, Oleh Kiper, announced via Telegram. Although the Ukrainian air defense fended off the drone attack, falling debris caused several fires in residential buildings in various parts of the city and injured several people.
A video published on social media by the mayor of Odessa, Hennadiy Trukhanov, shows him inspecting a damaged apartment with broken windows. "They say that the way you welcome the New Year is the way you will live the year," he wrote accompanying the images. "This year Ukraine will break this rule: We will persevere and we will win.
At the same time, Russia spoke of "heavy shelling" by Ukrainian forces in the center of Donetsk. Four people were killed in the shelling, wrote Denis Pushilin, the head of the expanded Donetsk region appointed by Russia, on Telegram. 14 people were injured.
Selenskyj: "Ukraine is alive"
In his New Year's Eve address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on his compatriots to shape the New Year according to their own ideas and not to lose sight of the future of their homeland. "We Ukrainians know better than anyone that a better tomorrow does not come by itself, because we defend each of our tomorrows with our own hands," he said in his video address on Telegram on Sunday evening, in which his wife Olena also appeared alongside him. "That's why our new year will be exactly what we want it to be and how we will shape it."
"Ukraine is alive, Ukraine is alive, Ukraine is fighting and fighting," Zelensky said in a speech broadcast later. The fact that Ukraine exists is not a New Year's miracle. "It is not a fairy tale, not magic, but the merit of each and every one of you." At the same time, he thanked the soldiers for their commitment: "You are holding back the evil that has become even greater."
Ukraine will survive the Russian attacks, he said. "And no matter how many missiles the enemy fires, no matter how many shelling and attacks - heinous, ruthless, massive - in an attempt to break us, the Ukrainians, to intimidate us, to crush Ukraine, to drive us underground, we will still rise up," said Zelenskyi. "Because the one who brings hell to our country will one day see it from his own window."
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President Volodymyr Selensky of Ukraine firmly stated that his nation will not succumb to the ongoing attacks from Russia, reinforcing his message that "Ukraine is alive, Ukraine is fighting and fighting." Despite the Russian airstrike in Odessa that resulted in casualties and property damage, Selensky expressed gratitude to the Ukrainian air defense forces for repelling the drone attack and vowed that Ukraine would persevere in the face of adversity. This resilience was echoed by the mayor of Odessa, who expressed confidence that Ukraine would defy the traditional saying about how one welcomes the New Year.
Source: www.ntv.de
