By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Ukraine’s air defence on Saturday afternoon shot down 12 out of 20 missiles launched by Russia, hours before New Year’s Eve celebrations, the Ukrainian army said.
Russia “launched more than 20 cruise missiles… Our air defence destroyed 12 cruise missiles,” Ukraine’s commander-in-chief General Valeriy Zaluzhny said on social media, adding that six of them were shot down over the capital Kyiv.
Russia has since February continued occupation of Ukraine in what Moscow called “special military operation”.
The West and its allies have deployed punitive measures targeted at weakening Russia’s economic powers to continue the war in its 11th month, including the introduction of price cap on Russia’s oil at $60 per barrel.
Kyiv has accused Russian President, Vladimir Putin of not indicating interest to end the war that has displaced millions of Ukrainians.
