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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces launch deadly Kyiv ballistic missile and drone attack

Putin says he is open to talks with Donald Trump, saying ‘we will have things to discuss’

Tom Watling ,Namita Singh
Friday 20 December 2024 17:00 GMT
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Zelensky says Ukraine could temporarily cede territory in exchange for Nato membership

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Russia has launched dozens of missiles and drones against Ukraine as at least one person was killed in the capital of Kyiv in the attack.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia had fired 60 drones overnight, though 20 were downed well before they reached their target, and five ballistic missiles at towns and cities across the country.

At least one person was killed after missiles hit Kyiv at around 7am local time this morning, while a high-rise building was badly damaged. The capital’s St Nicholas Church was also damaged.

Five people were also injured in a separate Russian missile strike that damaged a two-storey residence in Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown, Kryvyi Rih.

Meanwhile, Russian president Vladimir Putin has said he should have invaded Ukraine earlier as he used an end-of-year press conference to double down on his decision to start the war.

Despite the toll his war has taken on Russia’s finances and the lives of its young men, Putin claimed that sending troops into Ukraine in 2022 has boosted his country’s military and economic power.

Russian central bank holds rates steady at 21% amid criticism from key business figures

Russian central bank holds rates steady at 21% amid criticism from key business figures

Russia’s central bank has left its benchmark interest rate at 21%, holding off on further increases as it struggles to snuff out inflation fueled by the government’s spending on the war against Ukraine

Tom Watling20 December 2024 17:00

Russia and Ukraine exchange missile attacks, officials say, killing at least 1 person in Kyiv

Russia and Ukraine exchange missile attacks, officials say, killing at least 1 person in Kyiv

Ukrainian officials say Russia has launched several ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, killing at least one person and injuring nine others

Tom Watling20 December 2024 16:00

Russian chemical weapons chief Kirillov is buried with military honours

A Russian general assassinated by Ukraine was buried with full military honours on Friday as Moscow launched an apparent revenge attack on what it said was a Ukrainian intelligence service command centre in Kyiv.

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who was chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, was the most senior Russian officer to be killed inside Russia by Ukraine.

He was killed outside his Moscow apartment building on Tuesday along with his assistant when a bomb attached to an electric scooter went off in an attack for which Ukraine‘s SBU security service took responsibility.

State news agency RIA said Kirillov was buried in a ceremony outside Moscow attended by Defence Minister Andrei Belousov and Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council.

It said the ceremony had taken place at a Defence Ministry memorial complex called the Pantheon of the Defenders of the Fatherland.

Video footage of the funeral showed an honour guard carrying a coffin draped in the national flag and Kirillov’s cap on top of it as solemn music played. The honour guard then fired shots into the air in a snow-covered cemetery as the national anthem played and mourners looked on.

Tom Watling20 December 2024 15:08

Two AP journalists in Ukraine and the Mideast break down the wars they covered in 2024

Tom Watling20 December 2024 14:28

Behind enemy lines: Ukraine’s deadly assassins have terrorised Russia

Behind enemy lines: Ukraine’s deadly assassins have terrorised Russia

Ukraine’s security service spy chief says they have killed ‘very many’ Russian conspirators

Tom Watling20 December 2024 14:00

Footage shows Syrians throwing stones at Russian convoys

Tom Watling20 December 2024 13:28

Images show destruction of Kyiv church

Tom Watling20 December 2024 13:00

US spending millions of dollars maintaining seized Russian yacht

U.S. spending tens of millions of dollars maintaining seized Russian mega-yacht

U.S. must maintain yacht until the end of judicial dispute over seizure

Tom Watling20 December 2024 12:39

We have some more pictures of the aftermath of Russian missile strikes on Kyiv

(REUTERS)
(AFP via Getty Images)
(AP)
Tom Watling20 December 2024 12:14

Kim Jong Un ‘personally overseeing’ North Korean training for Ukraine

Kim Jong Un ‘personally overseeing’ North Korean training for Ukraine amid losses

Pyongyang claimed on Thursday that its alliance with Russia was ‘normal’ and ‘very effective’, despite international alarm about the deployment of North Korean troops to the war in Ukraine

Tom Watling20 December 2024 11:37

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