More than 500 missiles and drones fired at Ukraine in 5 days

According to Ria Novosti, in a post on his Telegram channel on January 2, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a phone call with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak about the number of attacks on Ukrainian territory in the past few days.

"Over the past five days, at least 500 missiles and drones have been fired across the territory of Ukraine," Ukrainian President Zelensky wrote.

The Ukrainian leader during the phone call expressed his gratitude to British Prime Minister Sunak for "London's significant and diverse contribution to Ukraine's air defense."

Previously, Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian army Valery Zaluzhny said that Russia launched at least 99 missiles of various types at Ukraine on the night of January 1 and early morning of January 2. These included 10 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, 70 Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 cruise missiles, and 3 Kalibr cruise missiles.

Ria Novosti reported that the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that it had used long-range precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to attack Ukraine's defense industry infrastructure. In addition, the attack was aimed at destroying missile and ammunition depots, including weapons provided by the West to Ukraine. This is one of Russia's large-scale attacks on Ukraine since December 29, 2023.

In the largest airstrike ever on Ukraine on December 29, 2023, Russia used 158 missiles and UAVs to attack targets across Ukraine. Russia's move is believed to be in response to Ukraine's raid on Russia's Belgorod border region on December 30, 2023, which killed 24 civilians.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on January 1, 2024 that Moscow will not let Ukraine's attack on Belgorod go unchallenged.