Ukraine's drone attack damages power facility in Russia's Bryansk region

Authored by jpost.com and submitted by EnthusiasticallyTaut

A Ukrainian drone attack damaged a power supply facility in Russia's Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, the regional governor said on Monday, adding that there were no casualties.

"A Ukrainian drone attack was carried out this morning on the Klimovsky district," Governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram.

"All emergency services are on site. As a result of the strike, the power supply facility was damaged, and there is no electricity."

Reuters was not able to independently verify the report.

The Klimovsky district of the Bryansk region borders Ukraine in its southern part.

Several waves of Russian drones targeted critical infrastructure in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv and surrounding areas on Monday, officials said, as Moscow extended its constant bombardment into a second day in 2023.

Rescuers work at an area heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Mykolaiv, Ukraine December 31, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/OLEKSANDR RATUSHNIAK)

Ukrainians cheered from balconies as their air defenses blasted Russian missiles and drones out of the sky in the first hours of the New Year, which Moscow ushered in by attacking civilian targets across Ukraine.

"Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!" some shouted as air raid sirens blared during the late night attack.

Ukrainian air defenses down Iranian-made drones

Ukrainian forces shot down 45 Iranian-made Shahed drones fired by Russia on the first night of the year, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, praising Ukrainians for showing gratitude to the troops and one another.

“It is loud in the region and in the capital: night drone attacks.” Kyiv Governor Oleksiy Kuleba

"Drones, missiles, everything else will not help them," he said of the Russians. "Because we stand united. They are united only by fear."

In a stern New Year's speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled no let-up in his assault on Ukraine, however.

"It is loud in the region and in the capital: night drone attacks," Kyiv Governor Oleksiy Kuleba said of Monday's aerial attack.

"Russians launched several waves of Shahed drones. Targeting critical infrastructure facilities. Air defense is at work," he said on the Telegram messaging app.

By 3 a.m. (0100 GMT), Ukraine's air defense systems destroyed 20 air objects above Kyiv, its military administration said. By then, air raid sirens had been wailing for more than four hours.

Earlier, one person had been wounded by debris from a drone destroyed over Kyiv that hit a road and damaged a building in a northeastern district of the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

A 19-year-old man was taken to a hospital in the Desnianskiy district, Klitschko said on the Telegram app. The mainly residential district on the left bank of the Dnipro River is Kyiv's most populous.

Ukrainian presidential aide Kyrylo Tymoshenko also said the debris hit a road in the district, damaging a building beside it.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the information.

The regional military command in Ukraine's east said air defense systems destroyed nine Iranian-made Shahed drones over the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions by the early hours of Monday.

On Twitter, the US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, said, "Russia coldly and cowardly attacked Ukraine in the early hours of the new year. But Putin still does not seem to understand that Ukrainians are made of iron."

Troops toasted the new year on the front line in Ukraine's eastern province of Donetsk. One soldier, Pavlo Pryzhehodskiy, 27, played on the guitar a song he had written after 12 of his comrades were killed in a single night.

"It is sad that instead of meeting friends, celebrating and giving gifts to one another, people were forced to seek shelter, some were killed," he told Reuters.

Ukrainian military soldier sits before preparing to fire a mortar round, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in region of Donetsk, Ukraine, December 31, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/CLODAGH KILCOYNE)

"It is a huge tragedy. It is a huge tragedy that cannot ever be forgiven. That is why the New Year is sad."

In a nearby trench, soldier Oleh Zahrodskiy, 49, said he had volunteered after his son was called up to fight as a reservist. Now, his son is in a hospital in the southern city of Dnipro, fighting for his life with a brain injury, while his father mans the front.

"It is very tough now," he said, holding back tears.

BarknSpider on January 2nd, 2023 at 04:51 UTC »

Ukraine has purposefully avoiding damaging infrastructure to avoid rallying the support of Russian people for the war. I wonder where this story will go.

thesweeterpeter on January 2nd, 2023 at 04:37 UTC »

Anyone have a second source?

From the Jeruselm Post:

Reuters was not able to independently verify the report.

I can't see it on AP or Reuters at all.

The only infrastructure stories are Russia hitting infrastructure near Kyiv

captain554 on January 2nd, 2023 at 04:36 UTC »

Good. Let Russia deal with that on their own territory with sanctions on top of it all.