In other news, Russian President Vladimir Putin courted the families of dead Russian servicemen over the weekend as he continued attempts to burnish his leadership credentials ahead of the March presidential election.
Putin met family members of Russian service personnel who died fighting in Ukraine at his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo on Saturday, ahead of Orthodox Christmas celebrations. Praising the service personnel’s heroism, Putin said they had defended Russia’s interests and that the government would support their families.
Russia targets Ukraine with 59 missiles, drones during latest strike, air force says
Ukraine’s air force said it destroyed 18 out of 59 missiles of different types during a wave of Russian strikes early Monday.
“On the night of January 8, 2024, the enemy launched a massive attack on Ukraine, using cruise, aviation, ballistic, anti-aircraft guided missiles and attack UAVs,” the air force said.
As well as UAVs, or drones, Russia used hypersonic ballistic missiles known as “Kinzhal” (which means “dagger”) missiles, the air force said.
“Critical infrastructure facilities, industrial civilian and military facilities were attacked. Military administrations will report on the consequences and victims on the ground,” the air force said on Telegram.
“This time the enemy attacked different regions of Ukraine. In particular, missiles flying along a ballistic trajectory are aimed at Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia and Khmelnytskyi regions,” it added.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday morning that “a group strike was carried out with high-precision long-range sea- and air-based weapons, including the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system, against the facilities of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine,” the ministry stated, news agency Tass reported.
