Some Ukrainians return home for New Year’s despite intensified Russian shelling

A series of explosions rocked Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 14 others, in a sign that Russia’s attacks are escalating ahead of the New Year.

Some Ukrainians defied the danger, however, returned to the country to reunite with family for the holidays.

Ukrainian officials claim Russia is now deliberately targeting civilians, seeking to create a climate of fear to see the year. First lady Olena Zelenska is furious that a massive missile attack could happen before New Year’s celebrations.

“Destroying other people’s lives is a disgusting habit of our neighbors,” he said.

The explosions were also at a rapid pace, which surprised officials just 36 hours after Russia launched a missile on Thursday to damage energy infrastructure facilities.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba highlighted the harsh civilian casualties of this latest attack – which “this time, Russia’s mass missile attack deliberately targeted residential areas, not energy infrastructure.”

The deadly explosion in the Ukrainian capital occurred between multi-storey residential buildings in the Solomianskyi district.

An Associated Press photographer at the scene of the explosion saw the body of a dead woman as her husband and son stood nearby. Among the injured who were taken to hospital was an older woman. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two schools were also damaged, including a kindergarten.

Various residential buildings and civil infrastructure were damaged in Kyiv on Saturday afternoon as part of a mass attack in the country. The top official in the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, published photos and video of a partially collapsed six-story hotel in Kyiv. Klitschko said Japanese journalists were among those injured in the capital.

Russia launched 20 cruise missiles over Ukraine on Friday afternoon, of which Ukrainian forces shot down 12, according to Ukrainian military chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released a video address shortly after Russia launched a New Year’s Eve cruise missile in Ukraine saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “hiding the military, behind the missiles, behind the walls of houses and palaces.” Addressing Russia, he added that “nobody in the world will forgive you for this. Ukraine will never forgive you.”

At least four civilians were injured in Khmelnytskyi province in western Ukraine, according to regional Governor Serhii Hamalii. Six people were injured in the southern region of Mykolaiv.

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Mykolaiv Governor Vitalii Kim said Russia is targeting civilians more directly than attacking infrastructure as in the past.

“In many cities residential areas, hotels, only roads and garages are affected,” he wrote on Telegram.

In the Zaporizhzhia region, as a result of the missile attack, two houses were destroyed, and about eight were damaged. Four people were also injured, including a pregnant woman and a 14-year-old girl, regional Governor Oleksandr Starukh said.

Family again

Although the 10-month war in Russia continues without end, for some families, the new year is an opportunity to reunite, however briefly, after several months.

At Kyiv’s central train station on Saturday morning, Mykyta, still in uniform, clutched a bouquet of pink roses as she waited on platform 9 for her husband Valeriia to arrive from Poland. He hadn’t seen her in six months.

“It’s really hard, you know, to wait a long time,” he told The Associated Press after hugging and kissing Valeriia.

Nearby, another soldier, Vasyl Khomko, 42, happily met his daughter Yana and his wife Galyna who had been living in Slovakia because of the war, but returned to Kyiv to spend New Year’s Eve together.

Back in February, fathers, wives and children had to stay behind as wives, mothers and children boarded trains with young children seeking safety outside the country. Scenes of tearful goodbyes flashed across television screens and newspaper front pages around the world.

But on the last day of a year marked by brutal war, many returned to the capital to spend New Year’s Eve with their loved ones, despite the Russian offensive.

As Russian attacks continue to target power supplies leaving millions without power, no major celebrations are expected and a curfew will be in place as the clock rings in the new year. But for most Ukrainians being with their families is a luxury.

Valeriia first fled the conflict in Spain but later moved to Poland. Asked what his New Year’s Eve plans were, he simply replied: “Just to be together.”

The couple declined to share their surnames for security reasons as Mykyta has been fighting on the front lines in southern and Eastern Ukraine.

On platform 8, another young couple met again. University student Arseniia Kolomiiets, 23, has been living in Italy. Despite wanting to see her boyfriend Daniel Liashchenko in Kyiv, Kolomiiets fears Russian missiles and drone attacks.

Despite having no electricity at home, Liashchenko said she is looking forward to welcoming 2023 with her family and cat.

Natalya Kontonenko has traveled from Finland. It was the first time he had seen his brother Serhii Kontonenko since the full-scale invasion began on February 24. Serhii and other relatives went from Mykolaiv to Kyiv to meet Natalya.

“We are not worried about electricity, because we are together and that is the most important thing,” he said.