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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Russian people directly in a message amid the latest wave of missile attacks ahead of the turn of the year.
“A terrorist state will not be forgiven,” he said in the daily message that was released earlier in the day than usual.
“And those who order such attacks and those who carry them out are not forgiven, to put it mildly.”
In Russian, Zelensky said Russia was not at war with Nato, “as your propagandists lie.” Nor, he said, was the war for anything historical but “is for a person who will stay in power for the rest of his life”, he said, in a direct allusion to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin wants to show that he has the military behind him and is in front. “But he is just hiding,” Zelensky said.
“He hides behind the military, behind missiles, behind the walls of his residences and palaces, he hides behind you and burns your country and your future.”
No one will ever forgive Russia for terror, Zelensky said. “No one in the world will forgive you. Ukraine will never forgive you.”
Multiple blasts rocked Kyiv and other areas of Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 14 others, in a sign that the pace of Russia attacks had picked up before New Year’s.
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Ukrainian officials claimed Russia was now deliberately targeting civilians, seeking to create a climate of fear to see out the year grimly and usher in a bloody 2023.
Some Ukrainians defied the danger, however, to return to the country to reunite with families for the holidays.
In Moscow, meanwhile, residents marked a somewhat muted New Year’s Eve without the usual fireworks and celebrations on Red Square, with many saying they wanted peace in 2023.
Authorities closed off the famous cobbled square in the heart of Moscow, citing restrictions to fight Covid-19, and increased the number of police in nearby side streets.

New Year’s Day is Russia’s main seasonal holiday, while Orthodox believers also celebrate Christmas on January 7.
“We hope that there will be a predictable year, we hope there will be world peace, as strange as it may sound in such a situation,” said Moscow resident Alexander Tsvetov.
“We hope that people will be happy, on each side of this conflict, and there will be peace,” he continued, in a reference to what Putin calls the 10-month “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Deprived of the chance to gather on Red Square and watch a traditional New Year’s Eve firework display, people walked along the wet streets, looking at Christmas markets, brightly lit storefront displays and trees set up with baubles.
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New laws adopted in March prescribe fines and jail terms for discrediting or spreading “deliberately false information” about the armed forces.
“I am sure that those very – to put it mildly – unexpected, harsh, aggressive events, will surely moderate. Next year there will be a turn for the better, for sure,” predicted 68-year-old Yelena Popova.
The cancelled fireworks display, she said, was an act of solidarity with what was happening in Ukraine. “One should not pretend that nothing is happening – our people are dying there. A holiday is being celebrated, but there must be limits,” she said.
Tatyana, a woman who did not give her full name, said she hoped for “world peace, clear skies, happiness and health for everyone”. Russian troops were undoubtedly having a hard time “so spiritually we are supporting them”, she said.
Additional reporting by Associated Press and Reuters


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World

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Ukraine will never forgive Russia for terror, the president said, as Moscow’s forces unleashed another wave of missile strikes
Russia is targeting civilians and seeking to create a climate of fear to see out the year grimly and usher in a bloody 2023, Ukrainian officials say



Ukraine will never forgive Russia for terror, the president said, as Moscow’s forces unleashed another wave of missile strikes.


Russia

Vladimir Putin

Ukraine

War and conflict

Putin is burning your future, Ukraine’s Zelensky says in New Year message to Russian people

Ukraine will never forgive Russia for terror, the president said, as Moscow’s forces unleashed another wave of missile strikes Russia is targeting civilians and seeking to create a climate of fear to see out the year grimly and usher in a bloody 2023, Ukrainian officials say

Ukraine will never forgive Russia for terror, the president said, as Moscow’s forces unleashed another wave of missile strikes

Russia is targeting civilians and seeking to create a climate of fear to see out the year grimly and usher in a bloody 2023, Ukrainian officials say