Vladimir Putin responds by demonstrating his willingness for peace by carpet bombing Ukraine, for yet another night of flames and destruction which has also reached the Kiev region. The massive attack saw hundreds of drones and Kinzhal hypersonic missiles launched against Ukrainian railway and energy infrastructure as the winter grows increasingly harsh for the civilian population. The raids were claimed by Moscow as a retaliation “for the terrorist attacks in Kiev”, which on Friday also hit a skyscraper in the Chechnya of the tsar’s iron ally, Ramzan Kadyrov.
And at the same time, the rain of rockets and bombs is an unequivocal response to the appeals that came in the same hours from the talks between Americans and Ukrainians in Miami, according to which «real progress towards any agreement depends on Russia’s willingness to demonstrate a serious commitment to long-term peace. Including steps towards de-escalation and cessation of killings.”
“Over 650 gifts and 51 missiles” were used in the Russian attacks, denounced President Volodymyr Zelensky, reporting bombings in Dnipro, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Odessa, Lviv, Volyn and Mykolaiv and in the Kiev oblast, where three people were injured and the Fastiv train station, about 70 km south-west of the capital, was hit.
A raid “without any sense from a military point of view”, he said, while industrial structures and residential buildings were also hit in other parts of the same region. With the wave of attacks also reaching areas of western Ukraine such as Lviv, Ternopil and Khmelnytskyi, Poland once again raised some fighters in its airspace for preventive purposes, specifying however that “no violation of our airspace was observed”.
As a consequence of the attacks, thousands of people were left without electricity and heating, including 9,500 users in Odessa where 34,000 were also left without running water, due to the damage caused by the raids.
“Russia’s goal is to inflict suffering on millions of Ukrainians, and goes as far as launching missiles at peaceful cities on St. Nicholas Day,” the Ukrainian president stressed. For its part, Kiev claimed to have hit an oil refinery in Ryazan and a shell casing production plant in Alchevsk, in occupied Lugansk. But «additional pressure is needed.
Sanctions must work”, reiterated the leader of Kiev. A topic, that of pressure on Moscow, which will certainly be addressed on Monday, when Zelensky will travel to London to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron.
In fact, if on the one hand talks continue with the Americans for the end of the war – Zelensky spoke of a “constructive discussion” in a phone call with Witkoff, Kushner and Umerov – on the other hand work continues with the Coalition of the Willing for security guarantees. “Russia is firm in its path of escalation and is not seeking peace,” said Macron, condemning the raids in Ukraine.
“We must continue to put pressure on Russia to force it to choose peace.” In this sense, Kiev “can count on our unwavering support”, he assured. «This is the very purpose of the efforts undertaken in the Coalition of the Willing. We will continue these efforts with the Americans to provide Ukraine with security guarantees, without which a solid and lasting peace will not be possible.”