Ukraine-Russia war latest: Biden vows surge in weapons for Kyiv after ‘outrageous’ attack by Putin
At least one person killed and six wounded as Putin launches more than 70 missiles at Ukraine on Christmas Day
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Your support makes all the difference.Half a million people have been left without heating in Kharkiv as Vladimir Putin’s forces launched a barrage of aerial attacks on Ukraine, condemned as “inhumane” by Volodymyr Zelensky.
The strikes wounded at least six people in the city of Kharkiv and killed one in the region of Dnipropetrovsk, local governors said.
Zelensky said more than 70 missiles, including ballistic missiles, and more than 100 attack drones were used to strike Ukraine’s power sources.
US President Joe Biden denounced the "outrageous" attack and said he asked the US Defense Department to push forward with a new surge of military aid to Kyiv.
Mr Biden, who is being replaced by Donald Trump next month, said the purpose of the attack was "to cut off the Ukrainian people's access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardize the safety of its grid".
Washington has committed $175 billion in aid for Ukraine. It is not certain the flow will continue at that pace under Trump, who has said he wants to bring the war to a quick end.
Moldovan president says Russian missile violated its airspace
Moldova’s president has condemned the violation of its airspace by a Russian missile, as Vladimir Putin’s forces launched vast attacks on Ukraine.
Maia Sandu said: “While our countries celebrate Christmas, the 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 actions and stands in full solidarity with Ukraine.”
Woman, 53, killed in Russian shelling in Kharkiv district, prosecutors say
A woman is reported to have been killed by Russian shelling in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.
The Kupiansk prosecutor’s office said it had opened a pre-trial war crimes investigation after a 53-year-old woman was killed by Russian shelling on the village of Novoosinove, which damaged residential homes and outbuildings, broadcaster Suspilne reported.
Comment | What the Christmas Day bombing of Ukraine tells us about Putin’s aims
In a comment piece for Independent Voices, historian Mark Almond writes:
Ukrainians faced another barrage of Russian rockets and drones on Christmas Day, showing that Vladimir Putin’s war grinds on regardless of the calendar.
You may think – as a born-again Russian Orthodox believer – Putin is saving the season of goodwill for 7 January. Unlike Ukraine (which dropped the old Orthodox calendar and adopted 25 December as its holiday), Putin’s Russia cleaves to old imperial Russian tradition.
But changing the date of Christmas was not so much a theological realignment with the Catholic West, as a geopolitical signal of Kyiv’s determination to integrate with Nato and the EU.
That is, of course, a red rag to Putin.
And behind the Kremlin’s insistence on fighting to save the Russian “soul” of a Western-drifting Ukraine, there are crude practical benefits of seizing the territory where today’s fighting is worst.
What the Christmas Day bombing of Ukraine tells us about Putin’s aims
Behind the Kremlin’s insistence on fighting to save the Russian ‘soul’ of a western-drifting Ukraine, there are crude practical benefits from seizing the territory where today’s fighting is worst, writes Mark Almond
Russian region declares emergency situation as Black Sea oil spill fallout widens
Authorities in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region have declared a region-wide emergency, saying that oil was still washing up on the coastline 10 days after two ageing tankers ran into trouble.
The oil is from the tankers which were hit by a storm on 15 December. One of the vessels split in half, while the other ran aground.
The pollution, which has coated sandy beaches at and around Anapa, a popular summer resort, has caused serious problems for seabirds and everything from dolphins to porpoises and over 10,000 people have been trying to clear it up.
Veniamin Kondratiev, governor of the Krasnodar region, said that he had decided to declare a region-wide emergency because oil was still polluting the coastline in the Anapa and Temryuk districts.
Ukraine destroyed Russian arms depot in drone attack, SBU source claims
Ukrainian drones have recently destroyed an ammunition depot at the Kadamovsky military training ground in Russia’s Rostov region, a source in Ukraine’s SBU security service told the Kyiv Independent.
“It was used by the enemy to supply its troops in the Kramatorsk sector [in Ukraine’s Donetsk region],” the source was quoted as saying.
“Now the Russians have significant logistical difficulties, which significantly affect their ability to conduct combat operations.”
Ukraine officially marks Christmas Day on 25 December for second year
This is the second year that Ukraine has officially celebrated Christmas on December 25, in a move to separate itself from Russia’s cultural influence.
The Russian Orthodox Church, which claims sovereignty over Ukraine’s Orthodox Christians, celebrates Christmas on January 7, following the ancient Julian calendar.
Last year Mr Zelensky signed a law moving Ukraine’s official Christmas Day to December 25, with a goal of abandoning the “Russian heritage” of the Orthodox Christmas.
Russia accuses Nato of trying to turn Moldova into a logistical centre to supply Ukrainian army
Russia’s foreign ministry has claimed Nato is trying to turn Moldova into a logistical centre to supply the Ukrainian army and bring its military infrastrucure closer to Russia.
Maria Zakharova, the ministry’s spokesperson, made the accusation at a weekly news briefing during which she claimed the majority of Moldova’s population did not want to join the military alliance.
She cited what she said was a large transfer of weapons to Moldova in recent months and what she said were the pro-Western views of Moldova’s president Maia Sandu.
Starmer says it is ‘vital we redouble our resolve to bolster Ukraine’
Here are more of the comments from Sir Keir Starmer on Vladimir Putin’s Christmas Day attacks on Ukraine.
The prime minister said: “I condemn this ongoing assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
“I pay tribute to the resilience of the Ukrainian people, and the leadership of President Zelensky, in the face of further drone and missile attacks from Putin’s bloody and brutal war machine, with no respite, even at Christmas.
“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.”
Russian missile passes into Moldovan and Romanian airspace, Kyiv says
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said one Russian missile passed into Moldovan and Romanian airspace, as Vladimir Putin’s forces launched a mass attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Russia says aim of its ‘massive’ strikes on Ukraine was achieved
Russia’s defence ministry has confirmed it conducted a “massive strike” on what it claimed were critical energy facilities supporting the work of Kyiv’s “military-industrial complex”.
“The aim of the strike was achieved. All facilities have been hit,” it said in a statement.
One person was killed and at least six wounded, Ukrainian officials said. Ukraine’s energy minister German Galushchenko warned that restrictions on the country’s electricity supply were in place as a result.
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