Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv targets missile fuel factory as Moscow claims assassination attempts foiled
Four Russians accused of helping assassination plots arrested
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Your support makes all the difference.Ukraine has claimed to have struck a Russian industrial facility producing fuel for missiles, as Moscow says it has foiled several assassination plots on senior officers.
Kyiv said on Thursday that its air force had had carried out a strike in Russia’s Rostov region on a factory which was used to produce solid fuel for ballistic missiles used in attacks on Ukraine.
It did say what damage was caused in the attack or give an exact date, but said it had been struck in the past few days.
It comes as Russia claimed it had foiled several Ukrainian plots to assassinate senior officers and their families using bombs disguised as power banks or document folders.
The country’s Federal Security Service said it had arrested four Russians accused of helping plan the attack, just weeks after a high-ranking oddicer was killed outside his Moscow apartment by a bomb attached to an electric scooter.
It comes weeks after Ukraine’s intelligence service killed a top Russian officer outside his apartment building in Moscow by detonating a bomb attached to an electric scooter.
Putin’s Christmas Day attacks were designed to show ruthless force – but they may backfire
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What the Christmas Day bombing of Ukraine tells us about Putin’s aims
Ukraine’s bold postage stamps become symbols of resistance
Ukraine’s postage stamps have become symbols of resistance and resilience during the war, using bold and sometimes provocative designs to boost morale and fund essential causes, the BBC reported.
Notable examples include a stamp featuring a soldier flipping off a Russian warship, which became iconic after the ship’s sinking, and others depicting a Ukrainian tractor towing a Russian tank or the mine-sniffing dog Patron.
Oscar Young from the UK-based stamp dealers and auctioneers Stanley Gibbons describes Ukraine’s war-focused approach to stamp design as highly unconventional.
“Generally stamps are artistic and polite, but to go out your way and be quite rude, placing profanity and being very gesturous on stamps - that is quite unique to these particular issues,” he told the BBC.
Watch: Ukrainian soldiers celebrate Christmas on frontline of war
Putin’s Christmas Day attacks were designed to show ruthless force – but they may backfire
Half a million were left without heating and one person was killed as Russia launched more than 70 missiles at Kharkiv.
Yet 2025 will almost certainly be the year when the war ends – and it will not be the unmitigated disaster for Ukraine that seemed likely even a few months ago.
Read our Editoral here:
How Putin’s ‘ruthless’ Christmas Day attacks on Ukraine may backfire
Editorial: Half a million were left without heating and one person was killed as Russia launched more than 70 missiles at Kharkiv. Yet 2025 will almost certainly be the year when the war ends – and it will not be the unmitigated disaster for Ukraine that seemed likely even a few months ago
Starmer condemns Russia’s Christmas Day strikes on Ukraine power grid - ICYMI
Russia’s “bloody and brutal war machine” has shown no respite “even at Christmas”, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said, as he condemned strikes against Ukraine’s energy grid.
Moscow has launched a massive missile barrage on Christmas Day, with the aim of crippling energy infrastructure sites across Ukraine.
More than 70 missiles, including ballistic missiles and more than 100 drones, were used in the attack, according to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Sir Keir condemned what he called an “ongoing assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure”.
He added: “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 (Russian President Vladimir) 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.”
Russia claims Ukrainian assassination attempts foiled
Russia has claimed it has foiled a number of plots to assassinate high-ranking officers and their families in Moscow.
The country’s Federal Security Service claimed the plot involved using bombs disguised as power banks or document folders, and added that four Russian citizens allegedly involved in planning the attack had been detained.
It comes weeks after Ukraine’s intelligence service killed a top Russian officer outside his apartment building in Moscow by detonating a bomb attached to an electric scooter.
An SBU source confirmed to Reuters that the Ukrainian intelligence agency had been behind the hit.
latest pictures from Ukraine
Four sources say Azerbaijan Airlines flight was downed by Russian air defences
An Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday killing 38 people was downed by a Russian air defence system, four sources in Azerbaijan with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters.
One of the Azerbaijani sources familiar with the investigation into the crash told Reuters that preliminary results showed the plane was struck by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system, and its communications were paralysed by electronic warfare systems on the approach into Grozny.
The source said: “No one claims that it was done on purpose. However, taking into account the established facts, Baku expects the Russian side to confess to the shooting down of the Azerbaijani aircraft.”
Russia: It’s up to Trump team to make first move to improve ties
Russia’s foreign minister has said that Moscow is willing to work with Donald Trump when he becomes US president in January, but that he must make the first move.
Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Moscow on Thursday: “If the signals that are coming from the new team in Washington to restore the dialogue that Washington interrupted after the start of a special military operation (war in Ukraine), are serious, of course, we will respond to them,”
“But the Americans broke (off) the dialogue, so they should make the first move.”
All four Moscow airports resume work, Russia's aviation watchdog says
Russia’s aviation watchdog has said that all four Moscow airports have now resumed work after the lifting of temporary restrictions that were introduced to ensure the safety of civil aircraft flights.
“Aircraft crews, air traffic controllers and airport services have taken all necessary measures to ensure flight safety - this is the main priority,” the statement from Rosaviatsia said.
Russia declares federal emergency over Black Sea oil spill
Russia has declared a federal emergency on Thursday over an oil spill caused by two Russian tankers in the Black Sea, the Emergencies Ministry said.
The tankers were hit by a storm on December 15, causing one split to in half and the other run aground.
The resulting spill has coated sandy beaches at and around Anapa, a popular resort, and caused serious problems for wildlife including seabirds, dolphins and porpoises.
More than 10,000 people have been trying to clear it up.
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