Zelenskyy says Russia 'following the devil' by targeting Ukraine with missiles on New Year

Addressing the barrage of aerial strikes that hit Ukraine on New Year’s Eve, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia is “following the devil” by orchestrating such attacks despite identifying themselves as “Christians." “At Easter, they made such attacks, at Christmas, at New Year ... They call themselves Christians, they are very proud of their Orthodoxy. But they are following the devil. They support him and are together with him,” Zelenskyy said in a video address on Saturday, VOA News reported.

“Today, this Russian missile attack is not the end of the year, no matter how much the terrorists want it. It's the outcome of Russia's fate,” he said while issuing warning that “The terrorist state will not be forgiven. And those who give orders for such strikes, and those who carry them out, will not receive a pardon. To put it mildly.”

Zelenskyy, in the video address, also addressed Russians and claimed that their president Vladimir Putin is deceiving them by pretending to be brave and mighty, when in reality, he hides behind “troops, behind missiles, behind the walls of his residences and palaces.”

“Your leader wants to show that he has the troops behind him and that he is ahead. But he is just hiding. He hides behind the troops, behind missiles, behind the walls of his residences and palaces,” Zelenskyy said, adding that his counterpart “hides behind you and burns your country and your future. No one will ever forgive you for terror. No one in the world will forgive you for this. Ukraine will never forgive.”

Multiple blasts rock Kyiv on New Year's Eve 

On Saturday, Ukraine witnessed several explosions in its capital Kyiv, just when the war-torn nation was on the brink of stepping into the new year. According to BBC, Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said that the multiple blasts resulted in at least one death, and a hotel experiencing extensive damage.

As Russian forces zeroed in on the capital on Saturday, Ukrainians rushed to seek shelter with the sounds of air raid sirens blaring across the city. "The occupiers have decided to try to spoil the day for us," Mykolaiv Governor Vitaly Kim said on Facebook. Valerii Zaluzhny, the chief of Ukrainian armed forces, said that air defence systems had shot down 12 out of 20 cruise missiles launched by Russia.