KYIV
\nFour people were killed in a \u201cmassive\u201d wave of Russian strikes across Ukraine Monday, officials said, as authorities in the Russian border city of Belgorod evacuated hundreds due to Ukrainian shelling.
\nAs the war approaches its second anniversary, both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of causing dozens of civilian casualties in a sharp escalation of attacks.
\n\u201cOvernight on 8 January, 2024, the enemy launched a massive attack on Ukraine,\u201d Ukraine\u2019s air force said on social media.
\nRussia launched 51 missiles in all, 18 of which were shot down, it added.
\nRussian missiles hit a shopping center and high-rise buildings in President Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s hometown of Kryvyi Rih, killing one person, deputy head of the presidency Oleksiy Kuleba said.
\n\u201cIn Kryvyi Rih, there are many breakages in power grids, there are power outages, and electric transport does not work,\u201d he said.
\nA separate missile attack in the western region of Khmelnytsky killed two people, officials said, while an elderly woman in Kharkiv region died after being pulled from the rubble of her home.
\nRussia said it had only struck \u201cmilitary\u201d targets in its latest defense ministry briefing.
\nThe strikes came as Russia moved some 300 people from the border city of Belgorod due to Ukrainian shelling, the biggest evacuation from a major Russian city since the conflict began.
\nKyiv\u2019s forces have launched waves of deadly strikes on Belgorod, which lies less than 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Ukrainian border.
\nSome 300 residents who decided to leave are now being housed in temporary accommodation in the towns of Stary Oskol, Gubkin and the Korochansky district, further from the border, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
\n\u201cOver the past 24 hours we received 1,300 requests to send Belgorod children to school camps away from the city in other regions,\u201d he added.
\nThe Kremlin has tried to maintain a semblance of normalcy on the home front, but recent strikes on Belgorod have brought the Ukraine conflict closer to home for many Russians.
\nOn December 30, Ukrainian shelling of the city killed 25 people, prompting schools to shut for an extended period.
\nMoscow vowed to intensify strikes on Ukraine in response to the attack, the deadliest in Russia since the start of the war in February 2022.
\nJapan FM visit
\nJapanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa paid a surprise visit to Kyiv Sunday, where she said Tokyo was \u201cdetermined\u201d to keep supporting Ukraine.
\nKamikawa, the first high-level foreign official to visit Kyiv this year, announced new deliveries of defense equipment and discussed Tokyo\u2019s plans to host a February conference to promote Ukraine\u2019s economic reconstruction.
\n\u201cJapan is determined to support Ukraine so that peace can return to Ukraine,\u201d Kamikawa told a press conference with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba held in a bomb shelter as an air raid siren rang out.
\n\u201cI once again strongly condemn Russia\u2019s missile and drone attacks, particularly on New Year\u2019s Day,\u201d said Kamikawa.
\nShe said Tokyo would \u201callocate\u201d $37 million (34 million euro) to provide Ukraine with a drone detection system. It will also supply five generators to help Ukraine \u201csurvive\u201d another winter.
\nKuleba said Kyiv was thankful for Japan\u2019s decision last year to provide Ukraine with F-16s jets, but said the country also needed air defense systems.
\n\u201cEvery day, Ukrainian cities are destroyed by Russian missiles and drones. They cannot capture us, so they are trying to destroy us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV Four people were killed in a \u201cmassive\u201d wave of Russian strikes across Ukraine Monday, officials said, as authorities in the Russian border city of Belgorod evacuated hundreds due to Ukrainian shelling. As the war approaches its second anniversary, both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of causing dozens of civilian casualties in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-379620","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n