Following the war, several people were killed in separate strikes in the Donetsk region, which was under Russian control, and the Odesa region in Ukraine, and both Moscow and Kiev pointed the finger at one another, according to Al Jazeera. Amidst the growing conflict between Moscow and Kyiv, five people were killed in attacks on New Year’s Day on the Russian-occupied eastern city of Donetsk and the southern Odesa region of Ukraine. The head of the larger Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, who was appointed by Russia, charged that Ukraine was engaged in “massive shelling from multiple launch rocket systems.” He reported that fourteen people had been injured and four people had died.
On the other hand, Oleh Kiper, the governor of the Odesa region in Ukraine, said one person had been killed after a Russian air raid on Odesa.
Kiper said that Ukraine’s air defence systems were engaged in repelling the drone attack, but the falling debris caused several fires in residential buildings in different parts of the city, and at least three people had been injured.
A social media video, posted by Odesa Mayor Henadii Trukhanov, showed him inspecting a damaged apartment with broken windows.
“They say that how you welcome the New Year is how you will live the year,” Trukhanov said in the post. “Well, this year Ukraine will break this rule: We will persevere and we will win”.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Air Force said that Russian air attacks also targeted the Mykolaiv and Dnipro regions, as well as the city of Lviv, Al Jazeera reported.