<div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Ukraine said Russia had unleashed a fresh barrage of missiles Saturday, killing at least 14 people, as Britain became the first Western country to offer it the heavy tanks it has long been seeking.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The British move drew a swift reaction from Moscow, which warned it would only "intensify" the conflict.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Moldova meanwhile, said debris from the latest Russian missiles had landed on its territory and condemned the attacks.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukraine also insisted Saturday that the fighting in Soledar was continuing, a day after Russia's claim that it had captured the ravaged eastern town following a long battle.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Victory there would be a rare achievement for Moscow after a series of military setbacks.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukrainian officials denounced the latest wave of deadly Russian missiles strikes across the country, as the country celebrated the Old New Year, a popular holiday in Ukraine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At least 14 people, including a 15-year-old girl, were killed and 64 wounded when an apartment building was hit in the eastern city of Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk governor Valentyn Reznichenko said on messaging app Telegram.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Seven children were among the wounded, the youngest three years old, he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So far 38 people had been pulled from the rubble and the search operation was continuing, he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rescuers were also working through the night to free a woman trapped under the rubble of a destroyed house in Dnipro after hearing her voice, the state emergency service said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The strike on the Dnipro apartment block destroyed dozens of flats, leaving between 100 and 200 people homeless while around 1,700 were without electricity and heating, the deputy head of presidency Kyrylo Tymoshenko said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- UK sending first heavy tanks -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier Saturday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to provide Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, the first Western country to supply the heavy tanks Kyiv has been crying out for.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The tanks would arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks, Sunak's Downing Street office said in a later statement, adding that Britain would also begin training the Ukrainian Armed Forces to use the tanks and guns.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia's embassy in the UK swiftly issued a warning that "bringing tanks to the conflict zone, far from drawing the hostilities to a close, will only serve to intensify combat operations, generating more casualties, including among the civilian population".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But in his evening address on Saturday, Zelensky argued that Russian "terror" could only be stopped on the battlefield.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"This can and must be done on our land, in our sky, in our sea," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Moldova, Ukraine's southwestern neighbour, said Saturday it had found missile debris on its territory after the latest Russian strikes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Russia's brutal war against Ukraine directly impacts Moldova again," President Maia Sandu tweeted, posting photos of the wreckage.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We strongly condemn today's intensified attacks."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Energy infrastructure hit -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukraine's energy facilities operator Ukrenergo said it was working on "eliminating the consequences" of the latest Russian strikes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Kyiv, AFP journalists heard several explosions, while Ukrainian officials reported strikes on a power facility.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"There is a hit to an infrastructure facility, without critical destruction or fire," the Kyiv city administration said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the northeastern Kharkiv region, "the enemy launched another missile attack on critical infrastructure and industrial facilities," governor Oleg Synegubov said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Emergency blackouts were applied in "most regions" of Ukraine due to the fresh barrage of attacks, energy minister German Galushchenko said Saturday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Attacks were also reported in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Zelensky said Ukraine had managed to shoot down 20 of the more than 30 Russian missiles fired.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Unfortunately, energy infrastructure facilities have been also hit," he added, with the Kharkiv and Kyiv regions suffering the most.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Soledar's status disputed -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There was still uncertainty about the fate of Soledar, a salt mining outpost that Russia claimed to have captured, against denials from Ukraine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Both sides have conceded heavy losses in the battle for the town.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukraine's military governor in the embattled eastern region of Donetsk insisted Saturday that "Soledar is controlled by Ukrainian authorities, our military controls it."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The "battles continue in and outside of the city", he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He was responding to claims by Russia's defence ministry on Friday that it had "completed the liberation" of Soledar the previous day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The industrial town with a pre-war population of about 10,000 has now been reduced to rubble through intense fighting.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Capturing Soledar could improve the position of Russian forces as they push towards what has been their main target since October -- the nearby transport crossroads of Bakhmut. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">bnbd24/kh</div>