Belarusian news agency BelTA reported that a Ukrainian S-300 missile fell on Belarusian territory in one of the largest Russian missile attacks on Ukraine since the start of the war.
The Ukrainian ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Minsk to receive an official protest after the Foreign Ministry spokesman said the missile’s landing on Belarusian soil was “extremely serious”.
Russia launched a wave of missile attacks across Ukraine on Thursday morning, the Ukrainian Air Force claiming to have shot down 54 out of 69 Russian winged cruise missiles launched into Ukraine from Rostov in Russia, the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy acknowledged that most regions suffered power cuts after the attacks but he said the damage would have been worse without “heroic” air defense. Zelenskiy, in a video address late Thursday, said Ukraine’s central, southern, eastern and western air commands repelled 54 Russian missiles and 11 drones in one of the largest Russian air attacks since the war began in February.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said three people were reportedly injured in the capital, including a 14-year-old girl. Two people had been rescued from a private home which had been hit by debris. Klitschko said 40% of consumers in the capital were without electricity after the missile attack.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni promised Rome would continue to help Kyiv’s war effort and that she would come before the end of February.
UK to commit £2.3bn in aid to Ukraine in 2023said British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.
Kazakhstan was preparing to expel a Russian security officer who fled his country because he opposed the invasion of Ukraine and hoped to find refuge in the west, his wife said Thursday. As a Federal Protective Service (FSO) officer tasked with protecting the Russian President, Major Mikhail Zhilin, 36, was banned from leaving Russia and entered Kazakhstan illegally in September when he was became clear that he could be sent to Ukraine.
