Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin’s forces launch huge drone attack as Zelensky vows they will face Kyiv’s wrath

A senior Whitehall source told The Times that the UK and European countries were keen to get more weapons and ammunition to the Kyiv frontline, ahead of any change in power in the White House.

The source said 2024 would be about “stretching Putin into 2025 and beyond — effectively calling his bluff and testing his resolve”.

Parts of Sakhalin island’s western coast and the mainland Primorsk and Khabarovsk regions, which are situated close to Japan on Russia’s Pacific seaboard, are under threat of tsunami, state news agency TASS reported on Monday.

A massive earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 struck central Japan on Monday, triggering a tsunami warning and advisories for residents to evacuate.

Russian media cited authorities in the Primorsk region port city of Vladivostok as saying that anyone sailing in local waters should “urgently return to the shore”.

TASS cited authorities in Sakhalin and Khabarovsk regions as saying that the wave would not be life threatening.

Russia launched 90 attack drones in hours leading into New Year’s Day, with Ukrainian air defence systems destroying 87 of them, Ukraine’s Air Force said on the Telegram messaging app.

This latest attack came just hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to wreak “wrath” against Russian forces in 2024 in a video address.

“Next year, the enemy will feel the wrath of domestic production,” he said.

He added that Ukraine will have at least “a million” additional drones in its arsenal next year and that his troops were mastering F-16 fighter jets delivered by its Western partners.

In his new year’s message, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine will build at least a million drones, adding: “All of which we will generously use.”

Russia pounded Odesa in southern Ukraine with missiles and drones earlier on New Year’s Eve, before the leaders of the two warring countries gave contrasting messages to their people.

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Ukraine’s military said on Monday that the overnight Russian drone attack on Odesa targeted port infrastructure, and that a fire had broken out in one of the port terminals as a result of a strike.

“The enemy’s clear priority remains the port infrastructure of Odesa, a large number of drones were directed from the sea to the coastal zone,” Ukraine’s Southern Military Command said on Telegram.

It said the fire was promptly extinguished and that there were no casualties.

Dashcam footage shows the moment an explosion takes place in the Russian city of Belgorod, where Russian authorities say 14 people have died in Ukrainian strikes on 30 December.

A further 111 people have been injured in the city close to the Ukraine border.

In Kyiv, the Ukrainian Air Force warned residents to listen to their air alarms, especially on New Year’s Eve, in case of rocket attacks.

Although there was no state-organised celebration, people danced and played folk music inthe city’s central square to mark the end of 2023.

In the city of Lviv there was no New Year’s Eve celebrations due to an ongoing curfew because of the war with Russia. There was, however, some street performances to mark the occasion.

Following the Russian attack on the Ukrainian southern port of Odesa in the early hours of New Year’s Day, the city’s mayor Henadii Trukhanov has reacted on social media.

One person is reported to have been killed in the drone attack, with falling debris causing several fires in residential buildings in the city.

In a video showing him inspecting a damaged apartment, Mr Trukhanov said: “They say that how you welcome the New Year is how you will live the year.

“Well, this year Ukraine will break this rule: we will persevere and we will win.”