Russian launches missile and drone strikes against Ukraine ahead of Christmas

By Stefan J. Bos 

Residents across Ukraine were jolted awake overnight as Russia launched what officials described as one of its largest aerial assaults in weeks.

Ukrainian authorities said Moscow fired more than 650 drones and over 30 missiles, targeting cities and critical infrastructure nationwide.

At least three people were killed. Reports said a woman died near the capital, Kyiv, while a toddler was killed in the northwestern Zhytomyr region.

Officials said civilian infrastructure and energy facilities were struck in 13 regions, triggering widespread power outages as temperatures dropped below freezing.

Ukraine’s military said air defenses intercepted most of the incoming drones and missiles, but acknowledged that significant damage was inflicted on homes, power stations, and other sites.

Zelenskyy condemns assault 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the timing of the assault, calling it a strike before Christmas — when families hope to be together and safe.

He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his words, “cannot accept the fact that we must stop killing.”

The strikes came despite recent peace talks in Miami involving U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace envoy Steve Witkoff, who, along with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, held separate meetings with Russian and Ukrainian representatives.

A proposed peace framework could require Ukraine to give up territory and abandon its ambitions to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in exchange for security guarantees and economic recovery aid — terms Kyiv has warned are deeply problematic.

Trump has suggested that deep personal animosity between the Ukrainian and Russian leaders complicates efforts to end the nearly four-year-long war.

Trump speaks of hatred 

“[Regarding] wars, I thought this would be in the middle of the pack [in terms of difficulty], maybe even easy,” Trump told reporters. “But there’s a lot of hatred between those two people [Zelenskyy and Putin]. And when there’s hatred, there’s you know… [war].”

That hostility was underscored by Tuesday’s attack, which put NATO member states on heightened alert.

Poland said it scrambled fighter jets to protect its airspace during the strikes.

And with more clashes expected, Christmas in war-torn Ukraine looks set to be anything but peaceful.