Day 675 of the Invasion of Ukraine: New Attacks on Avdiivka, Russia Violates Polish Airspace

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Day 675 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

• Ukraine says it destroyed 5 out of 10 Shahed drones fired at it by Russia overnight
• New Russian attacks on Avdiivka
• Poland summoned the Russian chargé d'affaires for violating its airspace
• US State Department: America stands with the people of Ukraine
• Another Russian politician fell from a window

Ukraine says it destroyed 5 out of 10 Shahed drones fired at it by Russia overnight

The Ukrainian Air Defense Forces destroyed five out of a total of ten Shahed drones on the night of December 29-30, the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform reported, citing the press service of the Ukrainian Air Force.

"In the early morning of December 30, 2023, Russian invaders attacked (Ukraine) with ten Shahed drones from the direction of Cape Chauda (Crimea). Five drones were shot down by air defense in Mykolaiv, Kherson and Khmelnytskyi regions.

The main blow was delivered on the front line in the Kherson region," the press service said in a statement published on the Telegram communication application.

New Russian attacks on Avdiivka

In addition to massive bombings and air attacks, Russia attacked Ukraine yesterday with ground troops, DPA reported, referring to the military leadership in Kyiv.

However, the Ukrainian General Staff reported relatively few direct clashes - 31 battles. The focus has once again been on the town of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region.

Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an unannounced visit to the city, which is besieged by three sides.

According to the evening report on the situation in Avdiivka itself, there were three battles and another 10 in its vicinity.

Another center of attention is the Ukrainian fortification on the southern bank of the Dnieper River in the Kherson region. Russian troops made nine unsuccessful attempts to dislodge the Ukrainians from their positions there, the General Staff said.

The claims of the Ukrainian military cannot be independently verified.

Yesterday, Russia carried out its heaviest airstrikes on Ukraine with nearly 160 missiles, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles of various types. According to official data, more than 30 people were killed.

Russia was sharply criticized at the UN Security Council for its massive missile and drone strikes against Ukraine, after Kyiv and its supporters called for an emergency meeting of the 15-member body over the strikes, Reuters reported.

Russian attacks across Ukraine yesterday - the worst since the war began in February 2022 - killed 31 civilians and injured more than 160, according to officials. Poland said a Russian missile appeared to have entered its airspace before returning to Ukraine.

“Tragically, 2023 ends as it began - with devastating violence against the people of Ukraine,” UN Assistant Secretary-General Mohamed Khaled Khiari said after briefing the Council on the attacks. “Once again, Ukrainians are forced to spend the holidays in seeking shelter, clearing the rubble and burying the dead in freezing temperatures”, he added.

Most Council members, including the US, France and Britain, condemned the attacks on Ukraine.

"Instead of peace, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has chosen to mark these holidays and start the new year with an unprecedented number of drone attacks and missile strikes against another UN country," said John Kelly, political adviser to the US Permanent Mission to the UN.

China's deputy ambassador to the UN, Geng Shuang, did not condemn the attacks, but called for a "political solution" to the war in Ukraine.

Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said in a lengthy response that Russia had only launched attacks against military infrastructure in Ukraine and that Ukrainian air defense systems were responsible for the civilian casualties.

In response to his words, the British ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, said that Russia's actions were the only reason for the tragedy in Ukraine. "The rest is a barrage of lies and misinformation," she added.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemns Russia's attacks on Ukraine, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

"Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law, are unacceptable and must be stopped immediately," he added.

Poland summoned the Russian chargé d'affaires for violating its airspace

Poland summoned the Russian chargé d'affaires and demanded an explanation for the violation of Polish airspace by a missile, while also demanding an immediate end to such actions, the Polish Foreign Ministry said in a statement last night, as quoted by Reuters.

According to the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, a Russian missile entered the airspace of the NATO country yesterday morning. Ukrainian authorities reported massive attacks on various cities in Ukraine during the previous night.

"At 7:12 a.m. local time, a violation of the Polish airspace was detected from the border with Ukraine by an object that left the territory of Poland after less than three minutes," the General Staff reported on the X social network.

"We identify it as a Russian guided missile. All the time the trajectory of the missile was tracked by radar systems, both Polish and allied. Air defense systems were on alert," he added.

The RIA Novosti news agency quoted the Russian chargé d'affaires in Warsaw, Andrei Ordash, as saying that Poland had not provided evidence of border violations.

"I was handed a note containing an unsubstantiated claim that on the morning of December 29, an aerial object identified by Polish experts as a Russian guided missile had violated Polish airspace. No evidence was provided. My request for documentary evidence of this, which was contained in the note was rejected," Ordash said, according to RIA.

Earlier yesterday morning, two Polish and two American F-16 fighter jets, as well as an allied tanker plane, were raised on alert from bases in Poland due to the activity of a Russian long-range aircraft, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces wrote on "X" .

Poland will react promptly if such an incident happens again, Deputy Foreign Minister Władysław Bartoszewski said, quoted by the PAP agency.

"I made it clear to the Russian chargé d'affaires that repeated such attempts would be met with a sharper reaction from Poland, because it is a test of our effectiveness and our approach to defense," he noted, adding: "If (the missile ) had penetrated a little deeper into Polish territory, it would have been shot down".

US State Department: America stands with the people of Ukraine

"America is on the side of freedom today, tomorrow and always. America is against tyranny and against oppression. America supports the people of Ukraine." This is stated in a statement by the US State Department on the X social platform, quoted by the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform. The State Department made this statement following Russia's massive drone and missile attack against Ukraine yesterday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned yesterday's attacks against Ukraine, describing them as "horrific". "Putin is continuing his brutal military aggression and we must help Ukraine defend itself. Congress must act in the new year," Blinken said on X. Ukrinform recalls the words of US President Joe Biden that Russian aggression must be stopped, as it poses a threat to the security of all of Europe and increases the risk of the United States being drawn into the war.

Another Russian politician fell from a window

Vladimir Egorov, a member of Putin's United Russia party and a millionaire, has become the latest Russian politician to die falling from a window.

Egorov, 46, is a member of Putin's United Russia party and was previously a member of the Tobolsk City Duma. It is assumed that the man fell from the window of the third floor of a house in Tobolsk, Tyumen region, the Russian Telegram channel “Baza” reported.

The famous politician was found in the front yard of the home "without signs of violent death".

Egorov may have suffered from heart problems. "One of the most likely causes of death is heart problems," said a person close to the investigation, who wished to remain anonymous.

Heart problems are often given as an explanation for the untimely or suspicious deaths of prominent people in Russia, especially since the start of the war against Ukraine.

Pathologists are awaiting official autopsy results to determine Egorov's cause of death. The police are investigating what exactly caused Egorov's fall.

The deputy was forced to leave the city administration in 2016 in Tobolsk after a corruption scandal for which he was never convicted.

After his return to politics, Yegorov became one of the richest local deputies in Tobolsk, a prominent oil city, with an income of 9.1 million rubles (about $100,500).

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