decorated with ukrainian symbols, this christmas tree would be labelled extremism by russia if found. locals hope this year will finally bring freedom and peace. olga malchevska, bbc news. 2024 is set to be an historic yearfor elections, with more than two billion voters expected to head to the polls in 50 countries, including the united states, the uk, and russia. but the start of the year will have a focus on asia where the coming weeks and months will see elections in taiwan, bangladesh, indonesia, and pakistan, with south korea and india likely to take place in the spring. to help us break down the key things to watch for, i m joined by syetarn hansakul, a senior analyst at the economist intelligence unit. it s a bumper year for elections, but which are the main ones in asia that you ll be focussing on?
killed in southern odesa and eastern donetsk, occupied by russia. moscow blames kyiv, repeating it does not target civilians. kyiv says russia sent a record 90 drones all over the country. ukraine is still mourning the deaths of more than a0 civilians killed just two days ago. this is what s left from a 5 star hotel in the centre of kharkiv. katerina lives nearby. translation: when i was cooking our festive meal i had to shelter in the bathroom because of the attack. the drones were right above our home, it was very scary. and this video we received from occupy crimea. decorated with ukrainian symbols, this christmas tree would be labelled extremism by russia if found. locals hope this year will finally mean freedom and peace. olga malchevska, bbc news.
heavy russian missile and drone strikes on ukraine this early morning killed four civilians, wounded dozens and caused widespread damage. russia attacked with waves of different missiles during the morning rush hour. military authorities issued air alerts that lasted for at least three hours. ukraine s air force commander says in terms of number and types of missiles, today s russia s air strike was a repeat of major attack on december 29th. this new attack came a day after russian president putin vowed to intensify strikes on ukraine. drones and missiles struck residential buildings and civilian infrastructure. several districts of ukraine s capital had been cut off electricity and water, which brought back memories of last winter, when russia pounded the energy grid with missiles, causing frequent power cuts and plunging millions into darkness in the middle of winter. our reporter olga malchevska has been speaking to locals in odesa, kharkiv and occupied crimea about the past few d