Day 692 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Russia Hit New York…Donetsk Region

Day 692 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

• Russia hit the Ukrainian village of New York, there are injured people
• State of emergency in Voronezh after Ukrainian drone attack
• Kuleba for Lavrov: I felt like punching him in the face
• Kyiv ordered the evacuation of civilians from about 20 villages in northeastern Ukraine
• Belgium calls for increased aid to Ukraine and continued pressure on Russia
• Zelensky met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Davos

Russia hit the Ukrainian village of New York, there are injured people

Three people were wounded after the Russians shelled the village of New York in Donetsk, Ukrinform reported, citing the head of the regional military administration, Vadim Filashkin.

Two bombs were dropped in the village, and a rocket hit a three-story building, the entrance of which collapsed. Five people were buried under the ruins, Filashkin announced on Facebook.

He commented that this was "another cynical attack" by Russia against civilians. Representatives of the authorities, rescuers and police are working on the spot.

A series of explosions erupted in the southern Russian city of Voronezh, the Russian Air Force Service reported, citing Ukrinform. A state of emergency has been declared after a Ukrainian drone attack last night, Reuters reported.

The governor of the district, Alexander Gusev, reported an injured 11-year-old girl. Local residents were evacuated after a fire broke out in a block of flats and windows were broken by falling debris. Several other buildings were damaged.

New York in ???????? Donetsk region was attacked with 2 K500 bombs and a missile – a three-story building and 5 private houses were partially destroyed. 3 people were injured, 5 may be under the rubble. Also, two more people were wounded as a result of shelling in Kherson region.… pic.twitter.com/H8u7yNyWWz

— Гюндуз Мамедов/Gyunduz Mamedov (@MamedovGyunduz) January 16, 2024

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has warned that time is almost up for the US Congress to pass an agreement to finance aid to Ukraine, but said that even without Western support, Ukraine will not surrender under any circumstances.

"Even if we run out of weapons, we will fight with shovels because the existence of this nation is at stake for Ukraine," he said in an interview with ABC News, quoted by UNIAN.

Kuleba said more money for Ukraine would potentially help avoid a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia in which the US military would be forced to intervene. "Whatever the cost of supporting Ukraine now, the cost of correcting the chaos in the world if Ukraine loses will be much, much higher," he added.

And he warned the United States and its allies about the signal that Russia's victory in Ukraine would send to other adversaries. “If the West is unable to stop Russia in Ukraine, who else can it stop in other parts of the world?” Kuleba noted. The foreign minister ruled out any talks with the Putin regime until Ukraine takes a much stronger position on the battlefield.

State of emergency in Voronezh after Ukrainian drone attack

The mayor of the southern Russian city of Voronezh declared a state of emergency and opened two emergency response headquarters on Tuesday after what officials said was a drone attack by Ukraine. There is damage to several buildings and an injured child, which the Russian side claims is from objects shot down by air defenses.

On its Telegram channel, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had destroyed five drones and intercepted three others overnight over the Voronezh region bordering Ukraine. Four more drones were shot down in the nearby Belgorod region.

Voronezh, home to more than 1 million people, is located about 250 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that Russian air defense forces allegedly destroyed 5 and intercepted 3 drones over Voronezh, and another 4 drones were intercepted over the Bilhorod region.

During the night, several explosions were recorded. pic.twitter.com/xx8fEWxgtK

— NOELREPORTS ???????? ???????? (@NOELreports) January 16, 2024

Kyiv has stepped up its airstrikes in recent months in what it says are strikes targeting Russian military infrastructure.

Russia has an air base near Voronezh where some Su-34 bombers are based, according to Russian media. Russia often uses fighter jets and bombers during airstrikes against Ukraine.

Russian news outlet “Shot” reported on Telegram that at least 15 explosions were heard near the air base and some drone debris landed nearby on a residential building.

Kuleba on Lavrov: I felt like punching him in the face

“The hardest negotiations are the ones where you just feel like getting up and punching your opponent in the face, but you really can't. And I can say that this happened two or three times. One case was with Lavrov in (the Turkish resort of) Antalya in the spring of 2022.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this in an interview published on Monday. It's an hour-long informal chat with Ukrainian vlogger Roman Bebekh on his “Бомбардир****”**** YouTube channel. The conversation spans topics ranging from cooking to hobbies and Ukrainian football, and the words for Lavrov are in a series of rapid-fire questions and answers.

The meeting he refers to took place while Russian military aggression was raging and was brokered by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. As Reuters recalls, Kuleba then said that the talks were devoted to the possibility of a ceasefire and the creation of humanitarian corridors. The meeting ended without agreement and nothing came of it.

In response to Kuleba's words, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper: "Uneducated aggressive people were recruited under the guise of ministers to ruin Ukraine for American money."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, has ruled out talks with Moscow until Russian troops are withdrawn. Vladimir Putin has said several times that Russia is ready for talks, but only if Kyiv accepts the "realities on the ground" and has vowed to continue the war until the goals with which he started it are fully achieved.

Kyiv ordered the evacuation of civilians from about 20 villages in northeastern Ukraine

Ukraine today ordered the evacuation of 26 villages in the Kharkiv region, in the northeastern part of the country, because of the repeated attacks of the Russian army in the area, France Press reported.

"In view of the situation, we are introducing a mandatory evacuation of the population of the municipalities of Kindrahovska and Kurilovska in the Kupiansk district", regional governor Oleg Sinegubov wrote on social networks, listing the names of the 26 settlements in question, in which 3043 people live, including 279 children.

Belgium calls for increased aid to Ukraine and continued pressure on Russia

“We must not only continue, but increase the aid to Ukraine”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Hadja Labib, urged today in a speech before the European Parliament in Strasbourg on behalf of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

“The pressure on Russia must continue, we are discussing the possibilities of using the interest on Russian property seized in the EU for the reconstruction of Ukraine”, she added. According to her, the EU has so far provided the Ukrainian side with military aid for 27 billion euros, over 300,000 projectiles and over 3,000 missiles, and 39,000 Ukrainian fighters have been trained.

Labib indicated that the EU will speed up military production and maintain its goal of supplying Ukrainian forces with one million shells. She added that the EU is already working on joint public procurement for the production of 148 thousand projectiles.

“We have everything we need for long-term support for Ukraine. Russian military and political objectives have not changed. Ukraine remains a major task”, Labib added.

Zelensky met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Davos

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Davos to inform him about the massive Russian attacks and to emphasize the importance of strengthening Ukraine's air defense, the press service of the Ukrainian head of state reported, as quoted by the Ukrinform agency.

During the meeting, Zelensky thanked Stoltenberg for NATO's decisive support in the fight against the Russian invasion.

"Volodymyr Zelensky and Jens Stoltenberg discussed the situation on the battlefield. The Ukrainian president informed (Stoltenberg) about the recent Russian massive shelling of Ukrainian cities and other populated areas. The Ukrainian head of state emphasized the importance of further strengthening Ukraine's air defense system. The two sides also discussed other things that are necessary for the defense of Ukraine," Zelensky's press office said in a statement.

The press service reported that the two also noted the importance of signing a bilateral agreement on security cooperation between Kyiv and London within the framework of the G7 Joint Declaration on Support for Ukraine, adopted at the last NATO Summit in Vilnius.

In addition, Zelensky indicated that work is underway to sign similar documents with other partners, and he emphasized the importance of urgently signing such agreements, which would be effective until Ukraine's accession to NATO.

Zelensky and Stoltenberg also discussed preparations for the next NATO summit in Washington. The Ukrainian president said that Ukraine is waiting for decisions to be made that will bring it closer to NATO membership.

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