Violent attacks from the air and at sea: this is what happened in Ukraine at Christmas Heavy storm: 110,000 households in Australia without power

The first warnings come at 6 p.m. Drones had taken off from the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula. An anonymous author of a Telegram channel estimated that the Iranian Shahid plane would arrive in Odessa between 8:30 PM and 9:00 PM. From Crimea to the major Ukrainian port city it is only 180 kilometers by sea as the crow flies.

It’s Christmas Eve and a group of people gather for a banquet at a fancy restaurant. For the first time in over a hundred years, Ukraine celebrates Christmas in December and not in early January, as is customary in Russia. But the Russian military doesn’t seem to like this. Telegram’s prediction turned out to be correct, because shortly before 9 p.m. the anti-aircraft defense opened fire on a swarm of drones. ‘Shahid’ means martyr in Persian, and that is also the purpose of the drones: to detonate their warhead at a pre-programmed target location.

Fireworks over Odessa

The favorite destination of Russians is the vast port and especially the grain terminal. The banquet takes place less than 500 meters from the nearest pier, and suddenly some partygoers rush out as if there are New Year’s Eve fireworks on display.

Tracer bullets crisscross the black night sky above the harbor. With the naked eye, only red and white light streaks from the projectiles can be seen; the drones themselves remain hidden. The Ukrainians are now firing on all cylinders. Shortly afterwards, a larger explosion follows behind the rows of houses, but it is impossible to determine whether a shahid detonated on the ground or was shot in the air.

The boulevard near the central city park has now emptied, where the authorities have placed a huge Christmas tree. But a few young people do not allow themselves to be disturbed while celebrating. One of the young men approaches the strangers and asks in English where we come from. After hearing the answer, he says: «Thank you for coming to visit Odessa despite the war. This is a great support for us.”

A gigantic fireball over Feodosia

On Christmas Day, the military announced the results of the nighttime attack: A total of 28 of 31 drones were shot down across the country, including 17 over or near Odessa alone. This cannot be independently verified. But on Christmas Day, the grain terminal in the port is still intact. And that’s not all: several large cargo ships are at sea waiting to be loaded with wheat. A 190 meter long ship from Denmark is currently approaching the port.

On St. Stephen’s Day there is a Ukrainian attack, which can also be interpreted as retaliation for the drone attacks. Kiev’s air force fires one or more guided missiles at the port of Feodosia in eastern Crimea, at least 250 kilometers from the front. The Novocherkassk, a 113-meter-long landing ship from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet moored at the pier, was apparently hit.

Video footage shows a burning ship that later explodes in a giant fireball. The Novocherkassk had apparently loaded large quantities of explosives. The Ukrainians later announced that Shahid drones in the cargo hold had also been blown up. Other videos showed twisted pieces of metal from the ship being thrown far into the city by the force of the blast.

This success follows the surprising shooting down of no fewer than five modern Russian fighter-bombers by Ukrainian air defenses in the south of the country. The reason could be a Patriot surface-to-air missile system recently delivered by Germany. However, there were hardly any changes on the site front. Overall, the Russians are still making small territorial gains, especially in eastern Ukraine, but so far without any decisive breakthrough. (aargauerzeitung.ch)