Key developments on Jan. 2:
- Ukraine’s air defense downs all 39 attacking drones launched by Russia
- Emergency power outages introduced due to Russia’s overnight drone attack
- General Staff confirms deadly Dec. 31 attack on Russian troops in occupied Makiivka.
In a targeted attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Russian forces launched a mass strike using Iranian-made Shahed-131/136 kamikaze drones overnight on Jan. 2.
Ukraine’s air defense successfully shot down all 39 of the attacking drones. In addition, two Orlan-10 reconnaissance drones and an X-59 guided missile were also downed.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that 40 drones were headed for Ukraine’s capital overnight — 22 were neutralized over Kyiv, while three were shot down in the surrounding region and 15 in neighboring provinces.
Still, the attack caused disruptions to the supply of electricity in Kyiv and central Ukraine. According to the state grid operator Ukrenergo, emergency power outages have been introduced as restoration efforts continue.
This drone attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure was just the latest in a series of relentless strikes by Russian forces.
On New Year’s Eve, Russia attacked Ukraine with missiles and then launched drones after midnight. The barrage resulted in two civilian deaths in Kyiv, as a 46-year-old man injured during Dec. 31 attack on Kyiv died in the hospital on Jan. 2, Klitschko said.
Last week, Russia launched a nationwide attack on Ukraine on Dec. 29, targeting multiple regions across the country. The coordinated strike included missile attacks on civilian areas in the center, south, east, and west of Ukraine, resulting in the deaths of at least three people and injuries to more than 30.
Russian troops have repeatedly attacked energy infrastructure across Ukraine since early October, killing dozens of people and causing electricity, water, and heating cut-offs.
Moscow has admitted that Ukraine’s energy system is one of its primary targets. According to the Geneva Conventions, attacking vital public infrastructure constitutes a war crime.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously indicated that Russia will continue launching mass attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Ukraine’s attack on Russian troops in occupied Makiivka
According to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, the Ukrainian military was able to damage or destroy up to 10 units of Russian military equipment of various types in the occupied Makiivka in the eastern Donetsk Oblast.
The number of Russian military personnel killed in the attack is still being clarified, the military reported.
The Strategic Communications Department of Ukraine’s military said earlier on Jan. 2 that 400 Russian soldiers were killed and at least 300 more were injured in the attack on New Year’s Eve.
Russian soldiers were stationed in a local school building at the time of the attack, according to the report.
The Russian Defense Ministry has disputed these figures, with state-controlled news outlet RIA Novosti reporting 63 killed Russian service members.
However, former top militant in Donetsk Oblast and war criminal Igor Girkin has stated that the number of dead and wounded Russian conscripts “amounts to hundreds” and that the building in Makiivka and nearby equipment were almost completely destroyed.
Attacks and casualties
Over the past day, Russian attacks against Kyiv, Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk oblasts killed one person and wounded seven, according to local authorities.
In the eastern Donetsk Oblast, Russian troops injured one civilian in Bakhmut, which has been the site of the fiercest fighting, the oblast governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported. Russia hit over 11 communities in the region, damaging houses, according to Kyrylenko.
Russia attacked more than 11 communities close to the Russia-Ukraine border and the contact line in Kharkiv Oblast, injuring a 77-year-old woman and damaging five private houses and infrastructure facilities in Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.
One person was killed and four were injured in the southern Kherson Oblast, the oblast governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said. In the past 24 hours, Russian troops struck Kherson Oblast 71 times with artillery, multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), mortars, and tanks.
