In his New Year’s address on Monday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has become stronger in overcoming difficulties as the war against Russia enters its second year. According to him, the war taught Ukrainians to resist Russian attacks and adapt to difficulties. “The main result of the year: Ukraine became stronger. Ukrainians have become stronger,” Zelenskyi said.

Follow the events of the first day of Russian aggression in 2024 LIVE here on HotNews.ro:

08:51The wreckage of a Russian drone set fire to a local museum in Lviv on January 1, local officials reported

08:20In his New Year’s speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke of a “united Russian society”, calling Russian soldiers heroes and only briefly mentioning the war in Ukraine. About the year 2024, Putin said that it is the “year of the family.”

08:00The Air Force of Ukraine announced that at night Russia carried out a new airstrike in Mykolaiv, Odesa and Dnipro regions. The bombing of the city of Donetsk on New Year’s Eve killed three people, said an official installed by Russia in the eastern region of Ukraine.

07:00Russia began bombing Ukrainian regions a few hours before New Year’s Eve, targeting Kyiv and damaging residential areas of the city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that the drone attack took place in several waves, hitting residential buildings in the city center and causing fires. “All emergency services are already in place”

06:00Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday that the foundation of Sino-Russian ties had been strengthened in 2023 as he exchanged New Year greetings with his counterpart Putin, state media reported.

10:50 in the evening Dmitry Medvedev, vice president of Russia’s Security Council and former president of the country, said on Sunday that “his heart and thoughts are with those on the front lines.” In a video message on Telegram, he congratulated Russians on the New Year and noted that 2023 requires from Russia “special stability and unity, as well as true patriotism.”

Medvedev also urged Russians to “make 2024 the year of the final defeat of neo-fascism,” echoing Putin’s claims of invading Ukraine to fight “neo-Nazis.” (Guardian)

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russia has lost 359,230 servicemen since the invasion of Ukraine last year. Another 5,977 tanks and 11,070 armored fighting vehicles were lost.