On December 29, US President Joe Biden commented that Russia's latest missile attack on Ukraine was "a clear reminder to the world that President Putin's goals remain unchanged."
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| US comments on Russia's latest missile attack in Ukraine. (Source: Getty Images) |
On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Russian military fired about 110 missiles in one of the largest airstrikes on Ukraine and most of them were shot down.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk condemned the wave of Russian attacks across Ukraine on December 29, calling on Moscow to end the attacks “immediately”.
* Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat informed that Moscow fired more than 300 Kh-22 missiles during the special military operation and the Armed Forces of Ukraine (VSU) did not shoot down any of them.
According to Mr. Ignat, the Kh-22 missile reaches a speed of more than 4,000 km/h and is fired towards the target on a ballistic trajectory, making it extremely difficult to intercept.
To effectively intercept such missiles, Western air defense missile systems such as Patriot or SAMP/T are needed.
Mr. Ignat also mentioned the existence of an upgraded version of the Kh-22 missile - the Kh-32 missile, which he believes may have also been used in the recent attacks.
In another development, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that there were 50 group attacks and one concentrated attack with precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Ukrainian territory in the past week.
Specifically, a combined attack using cruise missiles and UAVs was carried out against VSU military facilities. Explosions were reported in major Ukrainian cities, including Kiev, Kharkov, Lvov, Dnepr and Odessa, and the Ukrainian Air Force described the attack as unprecedented.
* Also on December 29, the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper quoted German Army Major General Christian Freuding as saying that about half of the Leopard-2 tanks transferred to Ukraine had stopped working.
According to General Freuding, this was partly due to the fact that the VSU soldiers tried to replace parts in the German tanks themselves. However, due to their lack of experience, the Ukrainian soldiers accidentally disabled some tanks.
"A year ago there was a lot of talk about the supply of battle tanks. Now there is information that almost half of the 18 Leopard-2 battle tanks supplied by Germany have stopped working, partly due to improper replacement of parts," Freuding said.
According to German operating regulations, the Ukrainian army should not repair tanks themselves, as this leads to increased wear and tear.
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