Ukrainian soldiers celebrate the New Year in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, where fierce fighting is taking place on the 31st of last month (local time). Reuters Yonhap News
Zelensky’s telegram speech
“Soldiers, Refugees, Land Returning”
Russia also bombed on the last day of December
Putin celebrates by popping champagne
As the war in Ukraine passed over the year, Ukrainians and Russians welcomed the New Year in pain and silence. Until New Year’s Eve, Ukrainians spent the night on air strike in the cold subway, while Russians abstained from celebrations and paid close attention to war trends. Only Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated the war by popping champagne.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a New Year’s Eve speech published on Telegram on December. Every second on the 311th, we had something to say.”
“We don’t know what will come in 2023, but Ukrainians have one wish,” Zelensky said. “This year should be a year of ‘comeback’,” he said.
According to Reuters and others, Russia launched missile and rocket attacks across Ukraine on the same day.
One person was killed and at least 20 injured in an air strike in the capital, Kieu. Due to the Russian air raid, a curfew was imposed from 7 pm to midnight, making it impossible to celebrate the New Year itself.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) presented images of Ukrainian families celebrating the New Year in a subway station that day. UNICEF said, “Mothers with babies in their arms, children with pets, and parents bringing home a Christmas tree all had to spend a long time underground instead of preparing for the holidays.” A woman who took the subway with her three-year-old son to avoid air raids said, “I was on my way home to celebrate the New Year when an explosion sounded and my son got scared and went to the subway.”
Russia also refrained from large-scale events on this day and began to welcome the new year quietly. The authorities announced their policy not to hold New Year’s celebrations such as fireworks displays due to the spread of Corona 19. Accordingly, a significantly reduced New Year’s event was held in Red Square in Moscow, the capital. A woman in her 60s said that canceling the fireworks display also means solidarity with the soldiers. “Our people are dying there (Ukraine). There will be limits to celebrating the holidays,” he told Reuters.
In his New Year’s address broadcast that day, President Putin emphasized the cause of the attack on Ukraine and promised victory, saying, “The moral and historical legitimacy of the war lies with Russia.” The speech on this day was the longest New Year’s speech delivered by President Putin in the last 20 years. During his speech, he raised a glass of champagne and proposed a toast to celebrate the war.
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