Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin’s forces bomb own village as Kyiv under attack

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has condemned “barbaric” Russian airstrikes on Ukraine over the Christmas period.

Mr Sunak spoke with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, with the pair discussing developments in the conflict.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “Prime minister Rishi Sunak spoke to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky today [Tuesday].

“He offered his condolences to all those Ukrainians killed and injured in barbaric Russian airstrikes over the Christmas period.

“The prime minister said the UK would continue to stand steadfastly by Ukraine as they fight aggression and occupation, throughout 2024 and into the future.

“The leaders discussed recent developments in the conflict, including progress in the Black Sea and the success of the Ukrainian air defence, bolstered by UK-supplied ground-to-air missiles.

“The prime minister set out ongoing UK work to provide military and diplomatic support to Ukraine, including through further deliveries of lethal aid, support for President Zelensky’s peace plan and a long-term security framework.”

The West should tighten sanctions against Russia and provide Kyiv with long-range missiles in response to Moscow’s latest shelling of Ukraine, Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Wednesday.

Russia pounded Ukraine’s two biggest cities on Tuesday in a new wave of heavy air strikes that killed at least five civilians and prompted calls for the West to quickly provide more military assistance.

“We should respond to the latest onslaught on Ukraine in language that Putin understands: by tightening sanctions so that he cannot make new weapons with smuggled components and by giving Kyiv long range missiles that will enable it to take out launch sites and command centers,” Sikorski wrote on social media platform X.

Dashcam footage shows the moment an explosion takes place in the Russian city of Belgorod, where Russian authorities say 14 people have died in Ukrainian strikes on 30 December.

A further 111 people have been injured in the city close to the Ukraine border.

A Ukrainian security source reportedly told the BBC that Kyiv fired 70 drones at Russian military targets, but they blamed a “failure in Russia’s air defences for fragments falling in Belgorod.”

The event comes a day after Russian strikes across Ukraine killed 39 people. The bombardment was described by Kyiv as Russia’s biggest missile strike of the war so far.

Russia will be held responsible for every strike on Ukraine’s cities, Volodymyr Zelensky said after Moscow launched its biggest aerial attack of the war so far killing at least 31 Ukrainians.

“For every Shahed drone, for every Russian missile, there will be a fair responsibility of the terrorist state, both political and very practical,” Mr Zelensky said on Saturday.

He also said that Ukraine is preparing to produce more weapons in 2024.

The leaders of Latvia and Lithuania have condemned today’s airstrikes on Ukraine, calling on Western nations to offer more support.

Latvia’s President Edgars Rinkevics described this morning’s attacks as “brutal”.

“Ukrainian air defence works well but Ukraine must get more help,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky says he has spoken to UK prime minister Rishi Sunak.

In a post on social media he said the two leaders had “discussed our further defence cooperation, with a particular emphasis on air defence and long-range capabilities”.

Mr Zelensky also expressed his gratitude to the UK “for its substantial and comprehensive aid in bolstering Ukraine’s air defence, particularly with radars, advanced anti-drone systems, and missiles”.

Foreign secretary Lord Cameron and his US counterpart have condemned the “deplorable” airstrikes which have bombarded Ukraine in recent days.

Lord Cameron and secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke today about the war in Ukraine, as well the Israel-Hamas conflict, a foreign office spokesman confirmed.

“The foreign secretary and secretary of state discussed Russia’s deplorable air strikes against Odesa, Lviv, Dnipro, Kharkiv and Kyiv over the new year period, and their steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine this year,” the spokesman said.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general said at least 115 people had been injured in Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and the north-eastern city of Kharkiv on Tuesday. Five deaths have been reported so far.

“Russia is once again trying to plunge Ukraine into darkness with a large-scale attack on civilian infrastructure. We have official information about 5 people killed.

“At least 115 have been injured, including children and entire families. Rescue efforts continue. Prosecutors and investigators are documenting these barbaric war crimes.

“Residential buildings, gas pipelines, and energy facilities in the Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kherson regions, as well as the capital, have been damaged.

“Russia’s war on civilians is a blatant act of terrorism. This is a stark reminder to the world: only decisive action can stop terrorists from repeating their atrocities,” Andriy Kostin said.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to boost the country’s military manufacturing in 2024, promising that Russia will feel the “wrath of domestic production”.

In his new year’s message, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine will build at least a million drones, adding: “All of which we will generously use.”

Russia pounded Odesa in southern Ukraine with missiles and drones earlier on New Year’s Eve, before the leaders of the two warring countries gave contrasting messages to their people.

Ukraine’s two largest cities came under heavy Russian ballistic missile attacks Tuesday, killing at least two people and injuring dozens as the war approached its two-year milestone and the Kremlin‘s forces stepped up their winter bombardment of urban areas.

Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine, said one person died and 41 were injured in at least six strikes with Kinzhal missiles that hit the center of Kharkiv city and other areas.

In Kyiv, the capital, five areas of the city were hit in strikes that killed an older woman and injured at least 27 people, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. More than 100 people were evacuated from a burning apartment block, he said.