Russia's war on Ukraine latest: New Year's Day attacks

Reuters was not able to verify the reports. ZELENSKIY ADDRESS * President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a New Year message that his only wish for all Ukrainians for 2023 was victory and resolved to stay the course while the country fights for it. * "This year has struck our hearts.

Ukrainians cheered from their balconies while their air defences blasted Russian missiles and drones out of the sky in the first hours of 2023, as Moscow saw in the new year by attacking civilian targets across Ukraine. There were reports of only minor damage in the capital from attacks early on Sunday, after one person was killed and more than 20 wounded in missile strikes on Saturday.

RUSSIAN DRONE AND MISSILE STRIKES * Ukraine's Air Force command said it had destroyed 45 Iranian-made Shahed drones overnight -- 32 of them on Sunday after midnight and 13 late on Saturday.

* That was on top of 31 missile attacks and 12 air strikes across the country in the past 24 hours. * Russia's defence ministry said it had targeted production, storage and launch sites of Ukrainian drones with long range missiles on Saturday, with the aim of thwarting what it called potential "terrorist attacks" against Russia.

The ministry added that it had destroyed two Polish-made AHS Krab self-propelled howitzers in the Donetsk region. Reuters was not able to verify the reports.

ZELENSKIY ADDRESS * President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a New Year message that his only wish for all Ukrainians for 2023 was victory and resolved to stay the course while the country fights for it.

* "This year has struck our hearts. We've cried out all the tears. We've shouted all the prayers," Zelenskiy said. "We fight and will continue to fight. For the sake of the key word: 'victory'."

PUTIN ADDRESS * Russian President Vladimir Putin devoted his annual New Year's address to rallying the Russian people behind his troops fighting in Ukraine and pledging victory over Ukrainian "neo-Nazis" and a West supposedly intent on "destroying Russia".

* Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said victory for Russia over Ukraine was "inevitable" as he hailed Russian soldiers' heroism in a New Year's video message. QUOTE

* "I would really like this year to be over", said 35-year-old Kyiv resident Oksana Mozorenko as 2022 came to an end, though she said her family had put up a Christmas tree and bought presents to make it "a real holiday". DIPLOMACY

* U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said on Twitter: "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." * France will stand by Ukraine until its victory, French President Emmanuel Macron said in a New Year's Eve speech. "In the year that is starting, we will stand by you without fail," he said.

* Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met separately on Saturday with representatives of Russia and Ukraine ahead of his inauguration and called for an end to the war between the two countries. (Compiled by Kim Coghill and Peter Graff)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)