Rocket crashed over Belarus - explosions heard at Russian airbase
Created: 2022-12-30Updated: 2022-12-30 06:41
By: Sandra Kathe, Caspar Felix Hoffmann
In many parts of the country, civilians are victims of Russian rocket attacks.
Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile apparently lands in Belarus.
The news ticker.
Attacks on Ukraine continue:
Russia attacks with more than 120 missiles
Russian airstrikes:
people seek shelter
Editor's note:
Read the latest developments from the Ukraine conflict in our new ticker.
The information on the Ukraine war processed here comes partly from the warring parties in Russia and Ukraine.
They can therefore not be independently checked in part.
+++ Update from Friday, December 30, 6:30 a.m .:
As reported by Russian media, residents near the military airfield for strategic bombers in Engels in Russia on Thursday morning (December 29) saw the Russian air defense system working and heard explosions .
The governor of Russia's Saratov Oblast, Roman Busargin, said anti-aircraft defenses destroyed an "unknown object".
Russia is actively using the base in Engels, some 730 kilometers southeast of Moscow and hundreds of kilometers from Ukraine, for attacks on Ukraine with cruise missile-carrying bombers.
The Ukrainian authorities have not yet commented on the matter.
Hundreds of kilometers from the Ukrainian front: the Russian air base Engels.
(File photo) © AFP PHOTO / HANDOUT/ Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies
Rocket fell over Belarus – Ukraine announces investigation
+++ 10:41 p.m .:
After a rocket was found on Belarusian territory, Ukraine announced that it would take part in “objective” investigations into the incident and also want to involve independent experts.
Belarusian state media had previously reported that on Thursday morning (December 29) a missile launched by the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system fell over Belarus.
Just a few hours later, the Ukrainian ambassador in Minsk received a protest note from the Foreign Ministry about the incident.
In Ukraine, it is not completely ruled out that Russia could launch a new attack from its bases in Belarus and that the incident could be used as an excuse.
Officially, however, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense also said that Ukraine was attacked by a wave of Russian cruise missiles on Thursday.
"Therefore, a provocation by the terrorist state of Russia cannot be ruled out, which has chosen a flight path for its cruise missiles in such a way as to provoke their launch in the airspace over Belarus," it said.
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News about the Ukraine war: Putin announces the production of new warships at his desk
+++ 9:20 p.m .:
The Russian ruler Vladimir Putin inaugurated several new Russian warships via video conference on Thursday and also announced the production of further warships “with the most modern weapon systems” at the ceremony.
With the measure, Putin's government wants to ensure that "Russia's security and our national interests on the world's seas" are guaranteed.
This was reported by the AFP
news agency
.
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In addition to a minesweeper and a corvette, the new warships also include the new nuclear submarine "Generalissimus Suvorov", which can fire ballistic nuclear missiles.
Just last month, Putin took part in the launch of the new nuclear icebreaker Yakutia via video conference.
News in the Ukraine war: the head of the secret service sees Russia in a “complete dead end”
+++ 5.35 p.m .:
In an interview with the British television broadcaster
BBC
, the Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kirill Budanov spoke of an impending stalemate in the Ukraine war.
Accordingly, Russia is "now in a complete impasse" and is also suffering significant military losses.
Accordingly, Budanov also expects that the next Russian mobilization could be imminent.
The lack of modern equipment prevented Ukrainian advances.
To advance on many of the war fronts, Ukrainians would need additional weapons from the West.
All of these developments combined meant that war progress had slowed significantly since the liberation of Kherson in November.
“We cannot defeat them completely on all fronts.
You can't either," Budanov told the
BBC
.
News in the Ukraine war: Ukrainian authorities report dead and injured after rocket attacks
+++ 3.50 p.m .:
After the large-scale rocket attacks by the Russian army on Thursday morning, many regions of Ukraine reported numerous injuries.
Although all of the 16 rockets fired in Kyiv were shot down by the Ukrainian air defense system, three people were injured and several buildings damaged by debris.
This is reported by the online medium
Kyiv Independent
.
Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych also reported from the Kherson region that several rockets had killed and injured civilians.
At least one person died as a result of the morning's massive Russian shelling, which dropped 49 rockets over the Kherson region.
Nine others, including a 10-year-old boy, were wounded, Yanushevych said in a post on Telegram.
News about the Ukraine war: Liberation of a strategically important city is approaching
+++ 3.05 p.m .:
As reported by the Ukrainian general staff, Ukraine expects an early attempt to liberate the city of Kreminna in the Luhansk district, which is currently occupied by Russia.
Defense troops advanced about 2.5 kilometers on the heavily contested front last week, Ukrainian General Oleksiy Hromov reported at a briefing.
Kremmina is strategically particularly important because the city is considered an important pillar in the defense of Russian territorial gains.
News about the Ukraine war: Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile hit Belarus
+++ 1.30 p.m .:
Belarus informed after the use of the Ukrainian air defense against Russian attacks that a missile had been found on its territory.
State media in the capital Minsk reported that a missile launched by the S-300 air defense system had fallen on Belarusian territory.
The reasons are currently under investigation.
Accordingly, ruler Alexander Lukashenko was also informed.
He had given Russian troops the military bases in the country for attacks on Ukraine.
The state news agency
Belta
reported that the missile may have reached Belarusian territory as part of the operation of the Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense system.
That would be a similar incident as in November when Polish territory was hit.
Ukraine war: Kiev's mayor Klitschko reports about injuries
Update from Thursday, December 29, 12:30 p.m .:
According to military information from Kiev, Russia is again covering Ukraine with large rocket attacks.
Air alerts went off across the country in the morning.
Several heavy explosions could also be heard in the center of the capital Kiev, as a reporter from the
German Press Agency
reported on site.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one house was hit.
Two people were rescued and taken to the hospital.
A total of three people were injured in the attacks, including a 14-year-old girl, he said.
News about the Ukraine war: Russia attacks with more than 120 missiles
First report from Thursday, December 29:
Kiev/Frankfurt – According to the government in Kiev, Russia attacked Ukraine nationwide on Thursday (December 29) with more than 120 rockets.
They were shot down by the "evil Russian world" in order to destroy important infrastructure and kill masses of civilians, wrote the adviser in the presidential office, Mykhailo Podoliak, on Twitter.
There had previously been heavy explosions in the capital Kyiv and other cities.
Air alerts went off across the country.
These were the heaviest missile attacks since December 16, when Russia launched massive aerial bombardments and warships in the Black Sea.
It was the tenth such wave since October.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been warning of the threat of new attacks for days.
News about the Ukraine war: People seek protection from air raids
Advisor to the Ukrainian presidential office, Oleksiy Arestovych, urged people to urgently seek protection.
And he warned against posting images of the explosions and impacts on social media, as this would allow conclusions to be drawn about the work of the Ukrainian air defense and could reveal their position.
"When you do that, you correct the enemy's fire."
In recent weeks, the Russian military has repeatedly attacked Ukraine's energy supply network with cruise missiles, rockets and so-called kamikaze drones.
Despite the high numbers of Ukrainian air defenses shot down, the attacks caused major damage, resulting in massive power and water supply failures.
Russia wants to put the Ukrainian population under pressure in winter.
(cas/ska with dpa/AFP)
