Ukraine reports defense of 28 drones at Christmas
Even on Christmas night, Russia does not stop at attacks on Ukraine. However, the local air force reports that it successfully fended off most of the drones and missiles. However, debris also causes damage, for example to the port infrastructure in Odessa.
On Christmas Day, the Ukrainian air force said it had repelled more than two dozen drones during night-time Russian air strikes. Ukraine was attacked by a total of 31 Russian drones launched from the annexed Crimean peninsula on Monday night, the Ukrainian air force said on the online service Telegram. 28 of the Iranian-made drones were shot down.
The attack was directed against the southern regions of Odessa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, the eastern region of Donetsk and the western region of Khmelnytskyi. The air defense also reported the launch of two missiles and two "enemy fighter jets". One Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jet had already been shot down the previous day in the Donetsk region, the other Su-30CM over the Black Sea, it said. The air force also reported strikes against enemy positions, including weapons and ammunition depots.
The Southern Command of the Ukrainian army stated that 17 of the downed drones were repelled in the southern Ukrainian region of Odessa and five more in other southern areas. In Odessa, falling debris damaged the port infrastructure and an unused administrative building as well as storage rooms and caused a fire. However, no one was injured. Ukrainian cities are the target of Russian attacks on an almost daily basis. However, most drones are intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses.
Christmas not in January for the first time
At the same time, Russian border regions and Ukrainian cities partially occupied by Russia are regularly targeted by the Ukrainian army, including the Donetsk region. Several Ukrainian drone attacks have also increasingly targeted the Russian capital Moscow this year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously called for the country's defense to continue at Christmas. The predominantly Christian Orthodox Ukrainians are celebrating Christmas on December 25 instead of January 7 for the first time this year. Kiev's decision last summer to postpone the date for Christmas in order to distance itself from Russia is seen as a challenge to Moscow: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had belonged to the Moscow Patriarchate as a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church since the 17th century.
Parts of it broke with Moscow at the beginning of 2019 following the Russian annexation of Crimea. Following the Russian attack in February 2022, the Orthodox Church in Ukraine then broke away from Moscow completely.
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Source: www.ntv.de
