War

One thousand thirty-second day. In Kazan, Ukrainian drones damaged high-rise buildings; in Kherson, Russian aerial bombs hit an oncology clinic

Since February 24, 2022, Meduza has been broadcasting live about the Russian-Ukrainian war. Our chronicle is published once a day, and in it we dwell in detail on several key stories that are affecting the course of the war right now. We also publish your letters in these materials, because we are sure that we need to continue talking about the war. Please share your personal war stories with us. Find the feedback form at the end of this article. You can read the previous day's review here .

Russia

Ukrainian drones attacked Kazan on the morning of December 21, Tatarstan authorities reported. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the drones entered Kazan in three waves and from different directions from 7:40 to 9:20 in the morning. The ministry said air defenses shot down three drones and electronic warfare suppressed three more.

According to Tatarstan authorities, a total of eight drones took part in the attack (not six, as reported by the Ministry of Defense). Authorities said one of the drones was shot down over a river, another tried to attack an industrial plant but missed, and six drones crashed into residential buildings.

The Kazan mayor's office reported that drones crashed into residential buildings in three districts of the city - Sovetsky, Kirovsky and Privolzhsky. In particular, drones crashed into the 37-storey residential complex “Azure Skies” on Albert Kamaleev Avenue and the 23-storey residential complex “Manhattan” on the Orenburgsky tract. Fires broke out at the impact sites. According to the authorities, no one was injured, while the Shot telegram channel reported that three people were injured.

During the attack on Kazan, the local airport, as well as airports in Izhevsk and Saratov, temporarily stopped receiving and sending planes.

Ukraine

More than 100 Russian drones attacked regions of Ukraine on the night of December 21. The Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stated that from the evening of December 20 to 9 am (10:00 Moscow time) on December 21, the Russian military used 113 Shahed-type drones and a missile fired from the S-400 complex. Ukrainian air defense forces shot down 57 drones and suppressed another 56.

As a result of the attack in Kharkov and Zaporozhye, residential buildings were damaged. According to the head of the Kharkov regional military administration, Oleg Sinegubov, in the Saltovsky district of Kharkov, due to the Shahed strike, apartments on the first two floors of a nine-story residential building caught fire, six people were injured. In addition, in the Kiev district of Kharkov, due to falling drone debris, the roof of a residential building caught fire, a gas pipeline was damaged, and two people were injured. Due to the fall of UAV debris in the village of Solonitsevka near Kharkov, a fire occurred on the territory of a civilian enterprise.

In Zaporozhye, a nine-story residential building was damaged due to falling drone debris, said the head of the regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov. According to him, a 12-year-old boy was hospitalized. Three women were also injured; they refused hospitalization.

In the Kherson region, as the head of the regional military administration, Alexander Prokudin, said , on the night of December 21, Russian troops carried out an airstrike on an oncology clinic in Kherson. According to Prokudin, the Russian army used two aerial bombs. The building of the oncology clinic was destroyed, patients and medical staff were not injured.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said , commenting on the night strike, that the Russian Armed Forces had attacked Ukraine since December 16, using more than 550 guided bombs, almost 550 attack drones and over 20 missiles of various types.

“This is Russian terror, which we are countering. I thank the partners who continue to support Ukraine and increase pressure on Russia. With joint strength we will ensure a stable world,” Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian president published photos and videos showing the consequences of Russian strikes carried out in recent days.

War through the eyes of Meduza readers

Egor, Moscow. I hate war, Putin, Russian pro-government politicians and propagandists. I really sympathize with everyone - on both sides of the front - who, because of this useless, terrible adventure, lost their lives, health, relatives, and home. This has not changed during all the years of the war, but much else has changed.

In the first months, in the spring-summer of 2022, there was a feeling that this was impossible, that it couldn’t be like this, [that] we were all going to hell. I made anti-war stickers, posted them around the city wherever I could, wrote on social networks about how terrible it all was, and donated money to organizations that helped Ukrainian refugees inside Russia. Plus, I worked in a place where everyone has anti-war views and can, using Aesopian language, speak out against the war. All this helped to cope and gave at least some meaning against the backdrop of darkness. Not that it changed the situation, but it gave you the feeling that you were not on the side of disaster.

When mobilization began, I left, rather, succumbing to general panic (I had absolutely no intention of doing so before). I lived abroad for two years - in a country that I didn’t like, where I had no intention of integrating, I missed my friends and my hometown, where I visited on short visits. In the end he came back.

I haven’t put up stickers for a long time, I sit quietly and accept the rules of the game. I work in the same place, which allows me to think that I am helping, among other things, those Russians who are against the war and Putin. Sometimes it’s scary: what if mobilization continues, a drone will fly into your house, and you’ll go to jail? But home is still better, although some of my friends have left forever and say they can’t be here anymore. I understand their opinion, but I don’t share it. Putin will die sooner or later, but the country will remain, and there are still many good people in it. I rely on friends and those whom I know share my views.

I can’t say that my attitude towards people and the world has changed much. I understand that it’s easy to say this when no one died in the war and you can live in your own home. The world is cruel and unfair, people are different. There are terrible ones, there are beautiful ones, but those who have weapons, including nuclear weapons, have power, and this has to be taken into account. Perhaps this is cynicism, but when you live in a dictatorship, you have to behave pragmatically in order to survive.

I really want peace to come, a truce, a ceasefire, on any terms - just so that they stop killing each other. Apparently, the war will not have any just ending, but any ending other than nuclear war is better than eternal bloodshed. And then we'll see.

Why did this section appear?

Meduza talks about the war every day - but we are sure that reports from the front, photographs of destruction, reports of shelling and news about politicians’ attempts to agree on something alone are not enough. The story of the war is incomplete without the stories of the people whose destinies it affected, and without their opinions about what was happening.

Tell us and our readers what you think about the latest events unfolding in and around the war. We will publish some of your letters.