Zelensky vows more Ukraine-made weapons in new year speech

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has vowed a significant increase in the number of weapons produced in Ukraine next year.

Zelensky reiterated his commitment to build at least a million drones in his New Year’s address.

Five people were murdered in attacks in Odesa, Ukraine’s southernmost city, and the Russian-held Donetsk area overnight into New Year’s Day.

Earlier, Vladimir Putin delivered his New Year’s address, praising his soldiers but making no mention of the war.

Putin praised his soldiers as “heroes… at the forefront of the fight for truth” and also referenced economic issues, a key topic for many Russians, and declared 2024 the “year of the family.”.

Speaking on Sunday, as the war against Russia approaches its third year, Zelensky stated that “next year, the enemy will feel the wrath of domestic production.”

He noted that Ukraine would produce “a million” extra drones in 2024—something he said earlier this month—and that F-16 fighter jets would be delivered by Ukraine’s Western partners.

“Our pilots are already mastering F-16 jets, and we will definitely see them in our skies,” he said. “So that our enemies can certainly see what our real wrath is.”

The message for the new year arrived just hours before more attacks.

The strike was described as “massive shelling from multiple launch rocket systems” by him.

Separately, one person was killed and three others were injured in a Russian drone strike in Odesa, Ukraine’s southernmost city, according to local governor Oleg Kiper.

Russia carried out strikes across Ukraine on Friday, killing 39 people in what Kyiv termed Russia’s largest missile barrage of the war so far. Several cities were damaged, including Kyiv, the capital.

This was followed by Ukrainian airstrikes on Russia on Saturday, with Moscow reporting fatal air strikes in the country’s south-west, killing 24 people and injuring more than 100 in Belgorod, near the border.

Zelensky asked his Western partners to maintain their support for Ukraine as the country faced a reduction in help from Washington and Europe.

Ukraine has received its final shipment of military help from the US, with any subsequent aid packages stalled due to a squabble in the US Congress.

Zelensky recognized that his country’s spring attack was not as successful as intended but argued in his speech that his country had become stronger in the face of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Putin did not mention the Ukraine conflict during his New Year’s address, which was notably shorter than last year’s.

But he said: “To everyone who is at a combat post, at the forefront of the fight for truth and justice: You are our heroes; our hearts are with you,” he said. “We are proud of you; we admire your courage.”