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.
Some Ukrainians defied the danger, however, to return to the country to reunite with families for the holidays.
The deadly blast in the Ukrainian capital occurred among the multi-story residential buildings of the Solomianskyi district. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy published a video address shortly after Russia launched the New Year's Eve cruise missiles over Ukraine saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "hiding behind the military, behind missiles, behind the walls of his residences and palaces." Addressing the Russians, he added that "no one in the world will forgive you for this. Ukraine will not forgive.
In Zaporizhzhia region, as a result of a missile attack, two houses were destroyed, and around eight damaged. Four people were also wounded, among them a pregnant woman and a 14-year-old girl, said regional Gov. Oleksandr Starukh. Nearby, another soldier, Vasyl Khomko, 42, joyously met his daughter Yana and wife Galyna who have been living in Slovakia due to the war, but returned to Kyiv to spend New Year's Eve together.
Valeriia first sought refuge from the conflict in Spain but later moved to Poland. Asked what their New Year's Eve plans were, she answered simply: "Just to be together."