A soldier from an artillery crew of the Striletskyi special forces police battalion of the Main Department of the National Police in Zaporizhzhia Oblast aims a 122-mm howitzer D-30 to fire at the positions of Russian troops in the Pokrovsk direction in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on Nov. 20, 2025. (Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/NurPhoto)
Russia has lost around 1,202,070 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Dec. 26.
The number includes 840 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
According to the report, Russia has also lost 11,459 tanks, 23,804 armored fighting vehicles, 71,454 vehicles and fuel tanks, 35,509 artillery systems, 1,579 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,264 air defense systems, 434 airplanes, 347 helicopters, 95,334 drones, 4,107 cruise missiles, 28 ships and boats, and two submarines.
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President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine and the U.S. had agreed to meet "in the near future," suggesting there could be progress in peace talks to end Russia's war before the New Year.
President Volodymyr Zelensky held a phone call with U.S. President Trump’s Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Christmas Day to discuss "several substantive details" of ongoing peace talks, the president said.
Ukrainian forces struck multiple targets inside Russia overnight Dec. 24-25, hitting oil refining facility, a port, and a military airfield, the Ukrainian General Staff and a source from the the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said.
The missiles struck the refinery, triggering multiple explosions, the General Staff said, adding that the extent of the damage was still being clarified.
Ukrainian intelligence sources said the officers had previously taken part in Russia's war against Ukraine and were implicated in the abuse of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs).
Russia launched 131 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 106 drones. At least 22 drones made it through, striking 15 locations.
Russia's Defense Ministry reported that between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. Moscow time on Dec. 24, its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 132 Ukrainian drones.
"'May he perish,' each of us may think to ourselves," Zelensky said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "But when we turn to God, of course, we ask for something greater. We ask for peace for Ukraine."
In a hypothetical runoff between the two, Zaluzhnyi would secure a decisive victory, winning 64% of the vote compared to Zelensky's 36%, according to the poll.
