Live blog: Russia will 'never back down', Putin says in New Year's address

Sunday, December 31, 2023

1628 GMT — President Vladimir Putin has said Russia would "never back down" in his New Year's Eve address, praising his country's military personnel without explicitly mentioning the conflict in Ukraine.

"We have repeatedly proved that we are able to solve the most difficult tasks and will never retreat, because there is no force that can separate us," Putin said.

More updates 👇

0914 GMT — Russia says targeted Ukraine military after Belgorod strike

Moscow said it had targeted Ukrainian military sites in a wave of overnight drone attacks, in retaliation for the strike a day earlier on the city of Belgorod.

The Russian defence ministry said it had struck "decision-making centres and military installations" in the northeastern city of Kharkiv after Kiev said that residential buildings, a hotel and cafes had been hit.

1012 GMT — Ukraine downs drones as Russia retaliates for Belgorod 'terrorist attack'

Kiev said it had destroyed 21 of 49 Iranian-made drones fired after Russia vowed to retaliate for what it called a "terrorist attack" on a border city that left 24 dead.

The Ukrainian Air Force said that the "Shahed" drones were particularly targeted at "the front line of defence, as well as at civilian, military and infrastructure facilities in the front-line territories."

Six guided missiles had also targeted the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Kiev said in a statement on Telegram, without specifying whether they had hit their targets.

0618 GMT — Russia responds to Ukrainian attack on Belgorod

Russia launched fresh strikes against Ukraine at dawn, a day after vowing to retaliate for what it called a "terrorist attack" on the city of Belgorod.

Several Iranian-made "Shahed" drones targeted Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv on Sunday overnight, according to local authorities, as the two sides have taken turns accusing each other of pummelling civilian areas of their shared frontier over the weekend.

"As a result of the night attack of Russian drones on Kharkiv, buildings in the city centre were damaged. These are not military facilities, but cafes, residential buildings and offices," the city's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, wrote on Telegram, without mentioning casualties.

0801 GMT — Missile threat alert issued in Russia's Belgorod

The governor of Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, called residents of the city of Belgorod to hide in shelters on Sunday as a missile threat alert was issued in the city, according to a post on his Telegram account.

More than 20 people were killed in Belgorod on Saturday in what Moscow said was an "indiscriminate" Ukrainian air attack on the city.

0700 GMT — Death toll in Belgorod rises to 22

The death toll from Ukraine's Saturday attack on the Russian city of Belgorod has risen to 22 after another person died of his injuries overnight, local authorities said.

Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a statement on Telegram that the attack injured 109 people, 25 of whom sustained serious wounds and will be transported to Moscow for treatment.

According to the latest information, the governor said three children were among the victims in the attack that damaged 381 apartments in 30 buildings, several private houses, and numerous vehicles.

0653 GMT — Ukraine destroys dozens of drones launched by Russia: Kiev

Ukraine's military destroyed 21 out of 49 attack drones launched by Russia in its latest overnight air strike, Kiev's air force said.

Most drones were aimed at Ukraine's first line of defence as well as at civilian, military and infrastructure in the Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia regions, it added.

0212 GMT — Russia has jailed more than 200 captured Ukrainian fighters so far - Lavrov

Russian courts have sentenced more than 200 Ukrainian fighters to prison terms since Moscow started its military operation in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with the state RIA news agency published on Sunday.

"The courts of the Russian Federation have already sentenced more than 200 representatives of Ukrainian armed formations to long terms of imprisonment for committing atrocities," Lavrov told RIA.

Both sides accuse each other of committing numerous atrocities in the war that Russia started with an offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.

The United Nations has found continued evidence of war crimes and human rights violations committed by Russian authorities, including torture, rape and the deportation of children.

0030 GMT — Russia accuses Ukraine of 'terrorist attack' on Belgorod

Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out a "terrorist attack" on civilians in the city of Belgorod, including using controversial cluster munitions in strikes that killed at least 21 people and wounded dozens more.

Moscow said the attack — which followed waves of rocket and drone strikes by Russian forces on Ukrainian cities — would "not go unpunished."

In an emergency meeting at the UN Security Council demanded by Russia, envoy Vasily Nebenzya claimed Kiev targeted a sports centre, an ice rink and a university. "In order to increase the number of casualties of the terrorist attack they used cluster munitions," he said. "(It was a) deliberate, indiscriminate attack against a civilian target."

For our live updates from Saturday (December 30), click here.