Ukraine suffers 'largest missile attack' from Russia

"Record" attack

Ukraine’s military said Russia fired 158 missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at sites across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, in the attack on December 29. Ukraine successfully intercepted 114 of them, according to AFP. Schools, maternity hospitals, shopping malls and apartment blocks were among the buildings hit.

Ukrainian air force spokesman Yury Ignat said the number of missiles and drones was "a record number" and that it was the "largest missile attack" in the nearly two-year war, excluding the first days of continuous shelling of Ukraine. At least 18 people were killed and more than 130 injured in the attack, according to Reuters citing information from Kyiv.

Damage in Odessa, southern Ukraine, due to Russian attack on December 29

Russia did not comment directly on the information. The Russian military said on the same day that it had hit all targets in dozens of attacks on Ukraine over the past week, including the latest attack. Moscow also affirmed that it had only targeted military facilities in Ukraine, according to TASS.

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In a statement, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said the December 29 attack had shown that there could be no ceasefire talks with Moscow. "Russia is not considering any scenario other than the complete destruction of Ukraine," Reuters quoted the statement as saying.

Western countries have condemned the December 29 attack. Moscow has always denied targeting civilians in Ukraine.

The Polish military said a missile likely to be Russian flew over Polish airspace on December 29, traveling from Ukraine and then back to Ukraine, as Russia launched its attack in Ukraine. According to a Polish general, the missile was in Polish airspace for less than three minutes.

The Russian Defense Ministry on the same day accused Ukraine of firing three US-made HARM missiles at Russia's Belgorod region. "Three US-made Ukrainian HARM missiles were destroyed by air defense systems on the territory of the Belgorod region," Reuters quoted the agency as saying.

Russia warns West about asset seizures

The Kremlin warned the West on December 29 that it had a list of US, European and other assets to seize if G7 leaders persisted in pursuing the seizure of $300 billion in frozen Russian central bank reserves.

Leaders of the G7 (including the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada) are expected to discuss a new legal basis to allow the seizure of frozen Russian assets when they meet in February, Reuters sources said.

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said any such move by the West would be viewed as tantamount to "theft", violating international law and undermining reserve currencies, the global financial system and the world economy.

"This will be a major blow to the main parameters of the international economy, will weaken the international economy... It will weaken the confidence of other countries in the United States as well as the EU... Therefore, such actions will have very, very serious consequences," Mr. Peskov said at a press conference on December 29, according to Reuters.

Asked if he had a specific list of Western assets that Russia could seize in retaliation, Mr. Peskov said “yes.” But he declined to provide information about any specific assets on the list.

German general assesses Russia's losses

Major General Christian Freuding, who oversees German military support for Ukraine, recently said that Russia has suffered huge human and material losses in Ukraine, and that the Russian army will be weakened after the conflict.

In an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper published on December 29, Mr. Freuding said: "You know that according to Western intelligence figures, 300,000 Russian soldiers were killed or so badly wounded that they could no longer be mobilized for the war."

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Mr Freuding also said Russia was believed to have lost thousands of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. "The Russian armed forces will be weakened both in terms of personnel and material after this war," he commented.

However, he said Russia was succeeding in continuing to recruit troops “including using prisoners”. The German general also admitted that Russia was showing more “resilience” than the West thought when it began its military campaign in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Moscow did not immediately comment.

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