Ukraine war: Explosions in Kyiv as Ukrainians warn of cross-country missiles | world News

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People across Ukraine were urged to take cover as sirens and explosions sounded in the capital.

At least 10 explosions have been reported in Kyiv – “One of the explosions occurred between residential buildings in the Solomyanssk district of the capital,” the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said via his Telegram account.

He added, “Explosions also occurred in the Pechersk region and the Holosevsk region. There is destruction. Rescuers and paramedics are following the places.”

He later added that at least one person was killed and several others injured.

The reports follow a series of Russian missile strikes in recent days, with the heaviest aerial bombardment of the war so far on Thursday, according to Ukrainian officials.

A presidential aide in the capital said a hotel was among the buildings damaged in the recent barrage of attacks.

The governor of the surrounding Kyiv region had warned shortly before of a possible missile attack, and that air defenses in the region were engaging targets.

Putin moves to justify the war on the Russians

The latest violence occurred as Vladimir Putin used New Year’s radio broadcasts to Russians to stress that their country was fighting in Ukraine to protect its “motherland” and secure “true independence” for its people.

Image: “The West lied about peace,” claimed Vladimir Putin in his New Year’s message

In a nine-minute message – the longest New Year’s address of his two decades in power – the Russian president accused the West of lying and provoking Moscow into launching what he calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

“Western elites have reassured us for years of their peaceful intentions,” he said.

Read more: ‘A strong possibility’ Ukraine will regain all of its territory by the end of 2023 – with the exception of Crimea

“In fact, they encouraged neo-Nazis in every possible way, who carried out open terror against civilians in Donbass.”

He added, “The West lied about peace. It was preparing for aggression… Now they are cynically taking advantage of Ukraine and its people to weaken and divide Russia.”

“We have never allowed this and will not allow anyone to do this to us,” state-run news agencies quoted Putin as saying.

The West and Ukraine have rejected Moscow’s claims about the start of the conflict and say Putin waged a groundless war of aggression in an attempt to seize territory and overthrow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

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