Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s ‘inhumane’ Christmas Day attack leaves half a million without heating

A large-scale Russian missile and drone attack targeting Ukraine’s energy system on Christmas Day has been condemned as “inhumane” by president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Half a million people were left without heating in Kharkiv in temperatures just a few degrees above freezing, as blackouts were reported in Kyiv and other regions.

At least one person was killed and six others wounded in the attack, described by one Ukrainian energy chief as Vladimir Putin’s “state-sponsored terrorism”.

You can read the full report on today’s events below:

Just over 44 per cent of Ukrainians trust US president-elect Donald Trump, around 10 points less than president Joe Biden, a survey by the New Europe Centre showed.

In comparison, a separate June poll by the Pew Research Center suggested that Hungarians trusted Mr Trump the most at 37 percent, followed by Britain at 30 per cent and then France with 16 per cent of the population trusting him.

“This high level of support is likely due to the expectation of a clearer and more decisive policy towards Ukraine from the new US administration,” New Europe Centre researchers said.

Just over 70 per cent of Ukrainians support gradual Nato accession akin to West Germany’s model, a new survey by the Kyiv-based New Europe Centre showed.

This invitation would cover Ukraine, but the alliance’s defensive umbrella would only extend to occupied territories after liberation.

Different Nato accession pathways are gaining traction in both the West and Kyiv as Russia holds a military advantage on the battlefield and the prospect of liberating occupied territories militarily remains slim.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that $1bn reportedly sent to Ukraine by Washington via the World Bank and covered by profits generated by frozen Russian assets amounted to theft.

“This money has been stolen from us. And those reserves that are blocked, they are also blocked absolutely illegally. This is contrary to all norms and rules,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

“Such illegal actions, including the transfer of this billion, may, of course, in the long term become a reason for our legal action. And we will, of course, use every opportunity to protect our rights and our property rights.”

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.