Key developments on Dec. 31: * Ukrainian sea drone downs Russian helicopter with anti-air missile in first strike of its kind * Russian attacks damage homes and infrastructure in Kyiv and Sumy oblasts ahead of New Year * Ukraine strikes oil depot in Russia's Smolensk Oblast, General Staff confirms * Russian officers trained for
The capital endured over 500 air raid alerts, according to Kyiv City Military Administration head Serhii Popko on Dec. 30.
Russia used 43 drones against Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force reported on Dec. 30.
Russia has escalated its aerial assault on Ukraine, launching more than 280 KAB guided bombs, nearly 370 attack drones, and over 80 missiles in the past week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 29.
Overnight, Russia launched 10 drones from Crimea and six S-300/S-400 missiles from Russia's Belgorod Oblast, targeting the Kursk and Sumy oblasts, Ukraine’s Air Force reported.
The wounded victims, including a 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl, have been hospitalized, according to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticized Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for calling Vladimir Putin Hungary's “honest partner” during Russia’s massive missile attacks on Ukraine on Christmas Day, according to a Dec. 26 statement on X.
Russian forces struck the central market in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, with a drone on Dec. 26, injuring eight people, Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported.
U.S. President Joe Biden directed the Pentagon to "continue its surge" of weapons deliveries to Ukraine in response to Russia's mass attack on the country on Christmas Day, he announced on Dec. 25.
Key developments on Dec. 25: * Russian air defense missile may have downed Azerbaijani plane, media say * Russia terrorizes Ukraine with mass missile, drone attack against energy grid on Christmas morning * Ukrainian drones destroy Russian ammunition depot in Rostov Oblast, SBU source claims * Ukraine approves homemade Shchedryk aerial vehicle for military
President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Ukraine peace envoy, Keith Kellogg, denounced Russia's mass attack on early Christmas morning, emphasizing that "Christmas should be a time of peace."
"Moldova condemns these acts and stands in full solidarity with Ukraine," Moldovan President Maia Sandu said.
Russia launched more than 70 missiles, including ballistic ones, and over 100 drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. More than 50 missiles and "a significant number" of drones were shot down, he added.
Preliminary reports say that a Russian ballistic missile hit a four-story apartment building in the city, according to Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul. "Unfortunately, we're preparing for difficult news," Vilkul said in a statement.
The Russian military attacked Ukraine with 72 Shahed-type drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles overnight on Dec. 23, Ukraine's Air Force reported on Telegram.
The reports of casualties come as Ukraine's Air Force reported shooting down 52 attack drones, including the Shahed type, that Russia launched against the country overnight.
The Air Force added that it lost track of 44 decoy drones that Russia launched alongside the real attack drones.
The attack damaged a 9-story apartment building in the city, Governor Ivan Fedorov said. Three women and a 12-year-old boy sustained injuries.
The drone hit a 9-story residential building in the city's Saltivskyi district, authorities said. A 12-year-old child was among the injured.
Editor's note: The article was updated with the latest casualty figure. Russia launched five ballistic missiles against Ukraine's capital on the morning of Dec. 20, highlighting the stark contrast between the approaching holiday season and the realities of war. Though Ukraine's Air Force reported that all projectiles were downed, missile
Warning: This article contains descriptions of graphic scenes. For a moment, Oksana Latanska could not believe her eyes when she looked down at a cold, little body, gray from dust and ashes. It hardly resembled the little boy that she knew so well and whom she saw almost every weekend
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 45 of the 85 Shahed-type drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles launched overnight, the Air Force reported. Forty drones were reportedly lost across Ukraine thanks to electronic warfare countermeasures.
A Russian attack killed one person in the front-line town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, according to Governor Vadym Filashkin.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 27 of the 49 drones launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force said. Nineteen drones were reportedly lost across the country thanks to electronic warfare countermeasures.
Andrius Kubilius, the newly appointed European defense commissioner, spent the morning of Dec. 13 in a shelter in Kyiv during a large-scale Russian missile attack, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova said on X.
"DTEK thermal power plants were attacked. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties," the company said. The plants' equipment was "seriously damaged," with energy sector employees already working on repairs.
Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least one civilian and injured at least 11 over the past day, regional authorities reported early on Dec. 12.
On Dec. 10, a Russian drone struck and severely damaged an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) service vehicle on its way to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), President Volodymyr Zelensky reported.
Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least three civilians and injured at least 14 over the past day, regional authorities reported on the morning of Dec. 10.
A Russian missile attack against the town of Zlatopil in Kharkiv Oblast on Dec. 10 injured at least 11 people, officials reported.
The drones targeted multiple oblasts, with debris from downed drones causing damage to residential buildings.
These attacks follow recent developments on the front line, where military forces are locked in battle over small islands in the Dnipro River.
(Updated: )
