Closing summary
It’s nearly 11pm in Kyiv. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
Russia launched a massive aerial attack on Christmas morning, using cruise missiles to target energy infrastructure across Ukraine. Ukraine’s air force said the strikes included 78 air-, ground- and sea-launched missiles as well as 106 Shaheds and other types of drones. It claimed to have intercepted 59 missiles and 54 drones, with 52 more drones being jammed.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, condemned the Russian cruise and ballistic missile strikes as “inhuman”. “Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas to attack. What could be more inhuman?” Zelenskyy said on Telegram. He said there had been hits and blackouts in several regions. “The targets are our energy. They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine,” he said.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had conducted a massive strike on critical energy infrastructure facilities that supply Ukraine’s defence industry. “The Russian Federation launched a massive strike with long-range precision weapons and strike drones against critical facilities of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure that support the work of the military-industrial complex,” a statement said, adding: “The aim of the strike was achieved. All facilities have been hit.”
Ukraine’s energy minister, German Galushchenko, said Russia “is massively attacking the power sector” and that the transmission system operator had imposed restrictions on electricity supply to minimise the impact. Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, whose equipment was severely damaged in the attack, said it was the 13th massive attack on the Ukrainian energy sector and the 10th massive attack on the company’s energy facilities.
At least three people were wounded in a missile attack on Kharkiv in north-eastern Ukraine, the city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said. Half a million people in the Kharkiv region were left without heating on Christmas Day, in temperatures just a few degrees Celsius above zero, Reuters reported.
In the southern Kherson region, one person had been killed in the last 24 hours, its governor said on Wednesday. The Dnipropetrovsk regional governor said a search-and-rescue operation after strikes on Christmas Eve found that a 43-year-old man had been killed and 17 other people wounded. Homes in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro continue to be without power or heat, and patients of a hospital were evacuated, the city’s mayor said.
The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, condemned the attacks. The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, called the attacks “Russia’s Christmas gift to Ukraine”.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a call with the Japanese prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, where he thanked Japan’s government for a decision to transfer an additional $3bn secured from frozen Russian assets. The Ukrainian leader also thanked Japan for the total $12bn in humanitarian and financial aid provided to Ukraine, according to a readout of the Wednesday call.
Russia’s foreign ministry said Australia had reached out about the possible capture by the Russian army of an Australian citizen fighting with Ukrainian forces. Oscar Jenkins was reportedly captured by Russian soldiers while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova confirmed Australian diplomats had been in contact about the possible capture.
A Russian cargo ship that sank on Tuesday in the Mediterranean Sea was the target of an “act of terrorism”, according to the vessel’s owner. The Ursa Major sank while it was sailing through international waters between Spain and Algeria, leaving two crew members missing.
A passenger plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, killing dozens of people. The plane was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to the Russian city of Grozny in Chechnya. There was speculation in Russian media that the plane could have been shot down by Russian air defences, which mistook it for a Ukrainian drone.
Pope Francis called for an end to the war in Ukraine in his traditional Christmas Day address in Rome. “May the sound of arms be silenced in war-torn Ukraine. May there be the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation and to gestures of dialogue and encounter, in order to achieve a just and lasting peace,” the pope said.
Updated
We reported earlier that Romania had said it had not detected any Russian missile passing through its airspace to target Ukraine, as claimed by Kyiv. We have some further details now.
A statement by the Romanian defence ministry reads:
The Romanian military authorities have been informed by the Ukrainian military authorities that, at around 7:30 am, a missile of the Russian Federation forces, which would have impacted in the Chernivtsi region of Ukraine, would have flown through the airspace of the Republic of Moldova and, for about two minutes, also through the airspace of Romania.
The ministry added:
From the monitoring data of Romania’s air surveillance systems and from the data provided by the assets of the Nato countries ... it was not confirmed that the aircraft crossed Romanian airspace.
Moldova’s president Maia Sandu said on X that a Russian missile had been detected in its airspace.
Updated
A former top Ukrainian enlistment officer was arrested again in Kyiv after planning to flee abroad following his release from a detention facility, according to investigators.
The Kyiv Independent reports that Yevhen Borysov, a former head of Odesa oblast’s military enlistment office, was charged in July 2023 with illicit enrichment and violating military service regulations.
He had also been charged with forging documents to show he had sustained a combat injury, the report says, resulting in him being paid compensation of nearly $4,000.
The former official had planned to hide from the authorities after posting bail and being released from detention, according to the report, after which he planned to flee abroad.
Updated
Key event
Russian attacks on the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro have left homes without power or heat and forced the evacuation of a hospital.
More than a hundred patients are being transferred to other medical facilities in Dnipro, the city’s mayor, Borys Filatov, said on Wednesday.
In a statement posted on Telegram, Filatov said about 65 homes were still without heat and seven education institutions were damaged as a result of the Russian attack. He added:
Unfortunately, we will have to evacuate one of the city’s hospitals again, where more than a hundred patients are staying. They will be distributed to other medical institutions in Dnipro.
Updated
Russia’s inflation has reached 9.5% this year, according to new weekly data following the central bank’s unexpected decision last week to maintain its key interest rate at 21%.
Citing the statistical agency Rosstat, Reuters reports that seasonally volatile prices for fruit and vegetables contributed significantly to the overall increase, with cucumber prices rising by 8.3% and tomato prices by 1.9% in just one week.
The price of eggs increased by 1.7%, and frozen fish by 1.4%, according to the agency.
The central bank had initially estimated this year’s inflation at a maximum of 8.5%.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images sent from the newswires from Kyiv, where Ukrainians have been taking part in a Christmas procession.
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Japan to transfer $3bn from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, says Zelenskyy
Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a call with Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday.
During the call, the Ukrainian president thanked the Japanese prime minister for the government’s decision to transfer an additional $3bn secured from frozen Russian assets.
A readout of the call by Zelenskyy’s office states that he thanked Japan for the total $12bn in humanitarian and financial aid provided to Ukraine.
A statement by Zelenskyy reads:
I am grateful for the Japanese government’s decision to transfer another $3bn to Ukraine, secured by frozen Russian assets, and for additional assistance for energy equipment and the construction of shelters. We agreed to meet to continue the dialogue.
Updated
Russia’s foreign ministry has accused Nato of trying to turn Moldova into a logistical centre to supply the Ukrainian army.
Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Russian ministry of foreign affairs, cited what she said was a large transfer of weapons to Moldova in recent months, Reuters reported.
She also accused the western alliance of seeking to bring its military infrastructure closer to Russia.
Afternoon summary
Russia conducted a large-scale attack on Ukraine energy system and cities in its eastern region with cruise and ballistic missiles, Ukrainian officials said.
President Zelenskyy condemned the attacks: “Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhuman? Over 70 missiles, including ballistic ones, and more than a hundred attack drones. The targets are our energy infrastructure.”
After the attack, Reuters reported that half a million people in Kharkiv region were left without heating on Christmas Day, in temperatures just a few degrees Celsius above zero. Meanwhile there were blackouts in the capital Kyiv and elsewhere.
The Russian defence ministry confirmed it was responsible for the attacks. In a statement it said: “The Russian Federation launched a massive strike with long-range precision weapons and strike drones against critical facilities of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure that support the work of the military-industrial complex”. It added: “The aim of the strike was achieved. All facilities have been hit.”
Ukraine’s air force said the strikes included 78 air, ground, and sea-launched missiles as well as 106 Shaheds and other types of drones. It claimed to have intercepted 59 missiles and 54 drones, with 52 more drones being jammed.
Ukraine’s energy minister German Galushchenko said on Facebook that Russia “is massively attacking the power sector” and that the transmission system operator had imposed restrictions on electricity supply to minimise the impact.
Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, whose equipment was severely damaged in the attack, said on the Telegram messaging app: “This year, it is the 13th massive attack on the Ukrainian energy sector and the 10th massive attack on the company’s energy facilities.”
UK prime minister Keir Starmer condemned the attacks and paid tribute to the “resilience of the Ukrainian people, and the leadership of president Zelenskyy, in the face of further drone and missile attacks from Putin’s bloody and brutal war machine, with no respite, even at Christmas”.
US ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, said: “Russia’s Christmas gift to Ukraine: more than 70 missiles and 100 drones, directed at Ukrainian families celebrating in their homes and the energy infrastructure that keeps them. For the third holiday season, Russia weaponizes winter.”
At least four civilians have been killed by recent Russian attacks in Ukraine, the BBC has reported. Citing local officials and the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne, one person was killed in Dnipropetrovsk in a shelling attack (yesterday) with the other fatalaties reported today in Donetsk, Kherson and Kharkiv.
The Russian defence ministry said that Russian forces have taken control of the settlement of Vidrodzhennia in eastern Ukraine.
One woman was killed after falling debris from a Ukrainian drone that was shot down caused an explosion and a fatal fire in a shopping centre in the city of Vladikavkaz in Russia’s North Ossetia region, the local governor said.
Moldova’s president Maia Sandu said a Russian missile “violated” Moldova’s airspace. Posting on X, she said: “While our countries celebrate Christmas, Kremlin chooses destruction – targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and violating Moldova’s airspace with a missile, actions that clearly violate international law. Moldova condemns these acts and stands in full solidarity with Ukraine.”
Four people were killed and five people were injured in the town of Lgov in Russia’s Kursk region after Ukrainian shelling, the region’s acting governor said on Wednesday.
Russia has lost 779,320 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, including 1,600 casualties Russian forces suffered over the past day, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on 25 December.
A Russian cargo ship which sank in the Mediterranean Sea this week was the victim of “an act of terrorism,” state news agency RIA has reported citing Oboronlogistika, the ship’s ultimate owner.
Pope Francis has called for an end to the war in Ukraine in his traditional Christmas Day address in Rome saying: “May the sound of arms be silenced in war-torn Ukraine. May there be the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation and to gestures of dialogue and encounter, in order to achieve a just and lasting peace.”
Moscow is looking into reports that the Russian army may have captured an Australian citizen fighting with Ukrainian forces. Oscar Jenkins was reportedly captured by Russian soldiers while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region.
Updated
Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin, who was released in a prisoner swap by Moscow in August, has been placed on Russia’s “wanted” list, according to an interior ministry database seen by AFP.
“Wanted under a criminal code article,” reads the website, along with a photograph of Yashin and his date and place of birth.
The former Moscow councillor is also labelled as a “foreign agent”, a designation typically applied to opponents of president Vladimir Putin.
Yashin, 41, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison at the end of 2022 for denouncing “the murder of civilians” in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.
The liberal sat on Moscow’s city council at the time and had fought alongside opposition figures like Alexei Navalny, who died in detention in February 2024, and Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in 2015.
Yashin was released on 1 August as part of a historic prisoner exchange between Russia and the West, alongside other Russian opposition figures and American journalist Evan Gershkovich, a former AFP Moscow correspondent.
Since then, he has been involved in the Russian opposition movement in exile, taking part in a protest against the conflict in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin in Berlin in November.
Russia’s wanted persons list is extensive and includes both Russian and foreign personalities, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs said that Australia had contacted Moscow about the possible capture by the Russian army of an Australian citizen fighting with Ukrainian forces.
Oscar Jenkins was reportedly captured by Russian soldiers while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region.
During a weekly news briefing in Moscow on Wednesday, Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed Australian diplomats had been in contact about the possible capture.
“Efforts are currently underway to verify reports of the captured Australian citizen,” she said, according to Russian news agency Tass.
“We are monitoring the situation alongside the relevant agencies.”
Pro-Russian Telegram channels last week posted an unverified video allegedly showing the interrogation of the captured Australian by Russian forces.
Updated
Russian cargo ship which sank off Spanish coast was victim of 'terrorism' – RIA
A Russian cargo ship which sank in the Mediterranean Sea was the victim of “an act of terrorism,” state news agency RIA has reported.
The ship, called Ursa Major, sank between Spain and Algeria after an explosion ripped through its engine room leaving two of its 16 crew missing, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
RIA cited Oboronlogistika, the ship’s ultimate owner and a company that is part of the Russian Defence Ministry’s military construction operations, as saying the vessel had been targeted in “a terrorist act.”
Oboronlogistika had previously said that the ship had been en route to the Russian far eastern port of Vladivostok with two giant port cranes lashed to its deck.
Updated
At least four civilians have been killed by recent Russian attacks in Ukraine, the BBC has reported.
Citing local officials and the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne, one person was killed in Dnipropetrovsk in a shelling attack (yesterday) with the other fatalaties reported today in Donetsk, Kherson and Kharkiv.
Russia has lost 779,320 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, including 1,600 casualties Russian forces suffered over the past day, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on 25 December.
According to the report, Russia has also lost:
9,628 tanks
19,923 armoured fighting vehicles
32,117 vehicles and fuel tanks
21,333 artillery systems
1,256 multiple launch rocket systems
1,030 air defence systems
369 aircraft
329 helicopters
20,908 drones
28 ships and boats
1 submarine
Keir Starmer condems Russia's strikes on Ukraine
UK prime minister Keir Starmer has condemned Russia’s strikes on Ukraine:
I pay tribute to the resilience of the Ukrainian people, and the leadership of president Zelenskyy, in the face of further drone and missile attacks from Putin’s bloody and brutal war machine, with no respite, even at Christmas.
He added:
As we go into the New Year, it remains vital that we redouble our resolve to place Ukraine in the strongest possible position to end Russia’s illegal aggression against the Ukrainian people.
Moldova says Russian missile 'violated' its airspace
Moldova’s president Maia Sandu said a Russian missile was detected in its airspace.
Posting on X, she said:
While our countries celebrate Christmas, Kremlin chooses destruction—targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and violating Moldova’s airspace with a missile, actions that clearly violate international law. Moldova condemns these acts and stands in full solidarity with Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Nato member Romania said it had not detected any Russian missile passing through its airspace to target Ukraine as claimed by Kyiv.
Here are some more details on Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s energy system.
The strikes included 78 air, ground, and sea-launched missiles as well as 106 Shaheds and other types of drones, Ukraine’s air force said.
It claimed to have intercepted 59 missiles and 54 drones, with 52 more drones being jammed.
Pope calls for end to the war in Ukraine
Pope Francis has called for an end to the war in Ukraine in his traditional Christmas Day address in Rome.
He said:
May the sound of arms be silenced in war-torn Ukraine. May there be the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation and to gestures of dialogue and encounter, in order to achieve a just and lasting peace.
Here are some images coming to us over the wires from Ukraine.
One woman was killed after falling debris from a Ukrainian drone that was shot down caused an explosion and a fatal fire in a shopping centre in the city of Vladikavkaz in Russia’s North Ossetia region, the local governor said on Wednesday.
Sergei Menyailo, the regional governor, wrote on his official Telegram account that air defence systems had shot down the drone at 0828 Moscow time (0528 GMT), Reuters reports.
Here is more from the Russian defence ministry on its attack on Ukraine.
In a statement it said:
This morning the armed forces of the Russian Federation launched a massive strike with long-range precision weapons and strike drones against critical facilities of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure that support the work of the military-industrial complex.
The aim of the strike was achieved. All facilities have been hit.
Updated
Ukraine’s air force said it downed 59 Russia-launched missiles and 54 drones, Reuters reports.
Updated
Russian forces have taken control of Vidrodzhennia – Tass
The Russian defence ministry has said that Russian forces have taken control of the settlement of Vidrodzhennia in eastern Ukraine.
Updated
Russian defence ministry says it carried out 'massive strike' on Ukrainian energy system
Reuters is reporting that the Russian defence ministry said it had conducted a “massive strike” on what it said were critical energy facilities in Ukraine that support the work of Kyiv’s military-industrial complex.
Updated
Four people were killed and five people were injured in the town of Lgov in Russia’s Kursk region after Ukrainian shelling, the region’s acting governor said on Wednesday.
“A five-storey residential building, two single-storey residential buildings and a single-storey beauty salon were seriously damaged,” Alexander Khinshtein wrote on Telegram.
“The blast wave blew out windows in neighbouring private residences and damaged at least 12 cars. A small section of a gas pipeline was also destroyed by the blast.”
US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, has commented on Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Posting on X, she said:
Russia’s Christmas gift to Ukraine: more than 70 missiles and 100 drones, directed at Ukrainian families celebrating in their homes and the energy infrastructure that keeps them. For the third holiday season, Russia weaponizes winter.
Half a million people without heating in Kharkiv region following Russian attack – Reuters
Following the attack on Ukraine’s energy system, Reuters reports that half a million people in Kharkiv region were left without heating on Christmas Day, in temperatures just a few degrees Celsius above zero. Meanwhile there were blackouts in the capital Kyiv and elsewhere.
Russia has intensified attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector since spring of this year, damaging almost half of its generating capacity and causing prolonged blackouts.
Updated
Here are some images coming to us over the wires from Ukraine.
We have more on Russia’s strike on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Maxim Timchenko, the CEO of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, whose equipment was severly damaged in the attack, wrote on his X account:
Denying light and warmth to millions of peace-loving people as they celebrate Christmas is a depraved and evil act that must be answered.
Here is President Zelenskyy’s response in full to the attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure which he posted on Telegram.
Every massive Russian strike requires time for preparation. It is never a spontaneous decision. It is a deliberate choice – not only of targets but also of timing and date.
Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhuman? Over 70 missiles, including ballistic ones, and more than a hundred attack drones. The targets are our energy infrastructure.
They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine. According to preliminary reports, our defenders managed to shoot down more than 50 missiles and a significant number of drones.
Unfortunately, there have been hits. As of now, there are power outages in several regions. Power engineers are working to restore power supply as soon as possible.
I thank everyone who is working for the country, who is on combat duty, who is protecting our skies. We will restore the maximum. Russian evil will not break Ukraine and will not spoil Christmas.
Updated
Hello and welcome to the Ukraine live blog.
We start with news that Russia has launched a major Christmas morning attack on Ukraine’s energy system and cities in its eastern region with cruise and ballistic missiles, Ukrainian officials said.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, described the attack as “inhuman” and rounded on Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin.
“Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas to attack. What could be more inhuman? More than 70 missiles, including ballistic missiles, and more than a hundred attack drones,” Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messenger.
He said there were hits and blackouts in several regions because of the strike. “The targets are our energy. They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine’s air defence downed more than 50 Russian missiles in the strike on Wednesday.
In further developments:
At least three people were wounded in a missile attack on Kharkiv in north-eastern Ukraine, the city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said: “Kharkiv is under a massive missile attack. A series of explosions were heard in the city and there are still ballistic missiles heading towards the city,” Terekhov wrote on Telegram early on Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, the governor of Kherson region reported that one person had been killed in the last 24 hours.
Ukrainian air forces said Kharkiv was attacked by ballistic missiles and regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on the Telegram messaging app that there were “damages to civilian non-residential infrastructure”.
Ukraine’s energy minister German Galushchenko said on Facebook that Russia “is massively attacking the power sector” and that the transmission system operator had imposed restrictions on electricity supply to minimise the impact.
Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, whose equipment was severely damaged in the attack, said on the Telegram messaging app: “This year, it is the 13th massive attack on the Ukrainian energy sector and the 10th massive attack on the company’s energy facilities.”
Updated
