The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, in his first message to his compatriots in 2023, noted the anti-aircraft defense, which shot down 45 enemy drones on New Year’s Eve, and emphasized the contrast of mentality between Ukrainians and the Russian occupiers, promising that Ukraine’s independence will not be taken away. even one year,” reports News.ro.

“Russian terrorists were pathetic and entered this year as such. Our defenders were great and performed very well on January 1. You know, these days it was clearly visible how far we have departed mentally and humanly from what is boiling in Russia. Our sense of unity, authenticity, life itself – all this is in sharp contrast to the fear that reigns in Russia,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his message addressed on the first day of the year.

“They are afraid. Such a feeling. And they are rightly afraid, because they will lose. Drones, missiles, everything else will not help them. Because we are together. And they are together only with fear,” Zelenskyy continued.

He promised his compatriots that the Russians “will not take a year from Ukraine. They will not take away our independence. We will not give them anything,” the president said.

Zelensky once again thanked everyone who is fighting the enemy on the front lines. “We respond to every Russian strike in Kherson, Nikopol, Kharkiv region, in all our cities and towns,” he emphasized.

“It is very important how all Ukrainians recharged their inner energy on this New Year’s Eve,” the president noted. “And how we thanked our soldiers. How we thanked our loved ones. As millions of times throughout Ukraine, throughout the free world, our desire – the desire for victory – was heard and is heard. We will do everything to make it happen!” Volodymyr Zelenskyi promised.

His adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said that the wave of drone attacks on some Ukrainian cities on New Year’s Eve shows that “Russia no longer has a military goal.”

Podolyak wrote on Twitter that Russia changed its strategy 10 months after the start of the war against Ukraine.

“Russia no longer has a military goal. She tries to kill as many civilians as possible and destroy as many civilian targets as possible. War for the sake of murder,” Mykhailo Podolyak added.

In the last hours of 2022, Russia carried out drone attacks on several Ukrainian cities, writes Agerpres. According to the leadership of the Ukrainian army, all Iranian-made Shahed drones were shot down without reaching their targets. Many of these drones were aimed at the capital Kyiv and Kharkiv, located in northeastern Ukraine.

• Read also: Russian attacks on Ukraine on New Year’s Eve and night resulted in at least 4 dead and 50 wounded. Moscow announces strikes on drone production enterprises

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched an unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine. Moscow says it is conducting a “special military operation to de-Nazify” the neighboring country and protect the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine.

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