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’
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Your support makes all the difference.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.
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Oil refinery in Rostov catches fire after Ukrainian drone attack, governor says
An oil refinery in the Rostov region of southern Russia has caught fire after being attacked by Ukrainian drones, confirmed local governor Yuri Slyusar.
Emergency crews have been dispatched to the fire at the Novoshakhtinsk refinery and details on casualties were being clarified, he said.
It came as Russian air defence systems repelled 10 Ukrainian missiles targetting the region, he said on Telegram.
Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine’s official Centre Against Disinformation, wrote on Telegram that the missile attack focused on the Kamensky chemical plant “which produces rocket fuel specialising in solid fuel components for rocket engines”.
The plant, he said, also produced explosive materials and components for ammunition.
Mr Kovalenko posted a brief video showing a fire and smoke outside a fenced compound.
Mr Slyusar said fragments from one missile triggered a fire in a house in the village of Malenkaya Kamenka and smashed windows in others, adding that there were no casualties and emergency services were at the scene. He made no mention of any industrial target.
Ukraine’s military intelligence has said it is behind the killing of a senior Russian general in Moscow - the latest in a string of assassinations claimed by Kyiv’s security forces.
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of nuclear, chemical and biological protection of Russian troops, was killed outside an apartment building in Moscow along with his assistant, when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter went off, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee.
Sources say the Ukrainian security service, known as the SBU, was responsible. The killing came just a day after the SBU officially accused Kirillov of war crimes and issued a warrant in absentia for him over alleged use of banned chemical weapons against Ukrainian soldiers on the frontline.
The intelligence network, which often draws comparisons to Israel’s prized Mossad spy agency, has reportedly carried out dozens of assassinations, though they are never officially claimed.
Tom Watling reports:
Behind enemy lines: Ukraine’s deadly assassins have terrorised Russia
Ukraine’s security service spy chief says they have killed ‘very many’ Russian conspirators
North Korea can produce ballistic missiles for Russia to use against Ukraine in months
North Korea demonstrated this year that it could produce ballistic missiles and supply them to Russia for use against Ukraine in a matter of months, the head of a research organisation that traces weapons used in the war said yesterday.
Jonah Leff told the UN Security Council that researchers on the ground examined remnants of four missiles from North Korea recovered in Ukraine in July and August, including one that had marks indicating it was produced in 2024.
“This is the first public evidence of missiles having been produced in North Korea and then used in Ukraine within a matter of months, not years,” he said.
Mr Leff also had briefed the Security Council in late June, telling members that the organisation he heads, Conflict Armament Research, had “irrefutably” established that ballistic missile remnants found in Ukraine early this year were from a missile manufactured in North Korea.
Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia objected to the second appearance of Mr Leff at the council meeting, chaired by ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield of the United States, which holds the council’s rotating presidency this month.
He claimed Mr Leff represents Nato and the European Union, and questioned whether his organisation could provide impartial assessments. And he accused Ms Thomas-Greenfield of violating Security Council practices and transforming its meetings “into a politicized act of buffoonery.”
The US ambassador retorted that Russia had vetoed a resolution that ended the monitoring of sanctions against North Korea by UN experts, which she said makes organisations like Conflict Armament Research and its independent, well-regarded experts all the more critical.
ICYMI: At least 100 North Korean troops killed fighting in Ukraine, South Korea says
At least 100 North Korean troops deployed to Russia have been killed and another 1,000 have been injured in combat against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region, a South Korean lawmaker said this morning, citing the country’s spy agency.
The heavy losses are attributed to the lack of experience of North Korean troops in drone warfare and unfamiliarity with the open terrain where they are taking part in the battle, member of parliament Lee Seong-kweun told reporters.
Mr Lee was speaking after a closed-door briefing by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to parliament.
The discrepancy in the estimate of the troops killed from that made by a US military official, who earlier cited “several hundred” casualties, is because of the relatively conservative analysis by the NIS, Mr Lee said.
“There was a report that there have been at least 100 deaths and the injured are approaching 1,000,” he said.
In pictures: Zelensky in Brussels for European Council meeting
Three killed in Russian strike on Kharkiv region, says Ukraine
Three people were killed and three have been injured in a Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region, according to Ukraine’s national police.
More than 10 private houses were damaged, it added on Telegram messenger.
Ukraine hits Russia with 10 longer-range Western missiles, says Russia
Ukraine struck Russia with 10 longer-range Western missiles on Wednesday, the Russian defence ministry has claimed.
The Rostov region was hit with six US-made ATACMS missiles and four British Storm Shadow missiles on Wednesday.
No Istanbul agreements between Ukraine and Russia, says Zelensky
There were no agreements reached in Istanbul between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Speaking during a press conference at the European Council meeting in Brussels, Mr Zelensky said: "Ukraine did not agree to the ultimatum from the Russian Federation. Ukraine did not sign anything, no agreements existed. There was a response to the ultimatum from the Russian Federation."
Putin had earlier claimed a preliminary agreement had been reached between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators during the early weeks of the war at talks in Istanbul, adding that it had not been implemented but could be a basis for future discussions.
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
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