Russia marked the new year with the launch of a record 90 Shahed-type drones over Ukraine, as Vladimir Putin vowed to further intensify attacks after a Ukrainian strike on the south Russian city of Belgorod.
Ukraine said it had intercepted 87 of the drones, but a 15-year-old boy was killed and seven people wounded by falling debris from one of the downed aircraft in the Black Sea port city of Odesa, according to the head of the region’s military administration, Oleh Kiper. Debris also caused a number of small fires, including at the city’s port.
In the western city of Lviv, Russian attacks severely damaged a museum dedicated to Roman Shukhevych, a Ukrainian nationalist and military commander who fought for Ukrainian independence during the second world war. University buildings in the town of Dubliany were also damaged, although no casualties were reported.
Writing on social media, the Lviv mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, described the strike as “symbolic and cynical”, adding “this is a war for our history”.
That’s what they want us to believe, but there are so many giant caveats in the narrative that it’s rendered pretty meaningless. The only things the Red Army of WW2 has in common with Russia’s current army are the language and a willingness to throw lives into the meat grinder as a tactic in and of itself.