Even on Christmas, the battle actions between Russia and Ukraine continued.
Russia launched a combined attack on Ukraine’s energy system in the night of December 25, using various types of ground-to-air and sea-to-air missiles, as well as drones, according to the state Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.
The regions of Kharkiv, Kiev, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Zaporizhzhia were affected. Ukraine shot down 113 missiles and 54 drones, but some did land and cause damage. Power plants of the largest Ukrainian private energy supplier (DTEK) were severely damaged. A 53-year-old woman was killed in a Russian attack on the village of Novoosinovka in the Kharkiv region in the morning.
Meanwhile, Ukraine struck a munitions depot on the Kadamovsky training ground in the Russian Rostov region with drones. This depot is said to be one of the largest in Russia and is reportedly completely destroyed, according to military circles.
Until recently, both in Russia and Ukraine, Christmas was traditionally celebrated on January 7. In Ukraine, however, December 25 has been a public holiday since 2017 and, since 2023, even the sole statutory Christmas holiday.