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 on Thursday night, 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.
Key points
- Russia fires ballistic missiles at Kyiv in morning commute attack
- Russia should have sent troops to Ukraine earlier, says Putin
- Five injured in Russian missile attack in Kryvyi Rih
- Russia conducted mass cyberattack on Ukraine’s state registries
- Moscow charges Uzbek man for killing of Russian general
Russia and Ukraine exchange missile attacks, officials say, killing at least 1 person in Kyiv
07:00
Tom Watling
Russia vows 'quick' retribution after Ukraine attack
06:30
Stuti Mishra
Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, said Moscow would be quick to respond to the Ukrainian attack that killed six, including a child.
“As you can well understand, our response to this targeted crime against peaceful Russian citizens will not be long in coming,” he told the UN security session.
What will it cost to defend Britain from a growing Russian threat?
06:00
Tom Watling
Six killed in Russia, including one child, in a Ukrainian missile attack
05:30
Stuti Mishra
Six people, including one child, were killed on Friday in a Ukrainian missile attack on the town of Rylsk in Russia’s Kursk region, the acting governor, Alexander Khinshtein, said.
Ten wounded people, including a 13-year-old, were taken to hospital with minor injuries, Khinshtein wrote on Telegram.
“What happened today is a huge tragedy for all of us,” he said. “We grieve together with the families of the victims. No one will be left without support.”
Those responsible would receive “well-deserved retribution”, he said.
Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the incident.
Khinshtein said Ukraine had fired US-supplied HIMARS rockets, damaging several buildings including a school, recreation centre and private residences in Rylsk, some 16 miles (26km) from the border with Ukraine‘s Sumy region.
Ukraine’s scooter bomb killing could alter the course of the war
05:00
Tom Watling
Russian forces edge closer to key Ukrainian city
04:00
Tom Watling
The one battle President Zelensky looks set to win
03:00
Tom Watling
Russian opposition figure says fears of his mother's poisoning in Berlin proved false
02:00
Tom Watling
Who was Igor Kirillov, Russian general killed by bomb in Moscow?
01:00
Tom Watling
What's known about the brazen bombing that killed a top Russian general in Moscow
00:00
Tom Watling
Zelensky admits Ukraine is not capable of reclaiming lost territories
Friday 20 December 2024 23:00
Tom Watling
Kim Jong Un ‘personally overseeing’ North Korean training for Ukraine
Friday 20 December 2024 22:00
Tom Watling
Blinken will avoid Ukraine and the Middle East at a divided UN Security Council
Friday 20 December 2024 21:00
Tom Watling
Putin: I am ready to talk to Trump over Ukraine
Friday 20 December 2024 20:00
Tom Watling
US spending millions of dollars maintaining seized Russian yacht
Friday 20 December 2024 19:00
Tom Watling
Turkey and Russia engage in delicate maneuvers over Syria after Assad’s downfall
Friday 20 December 2024 18:00
Tom Watling
Russian central bank holds rates steady at 21% amid criticism from key business figures
Friday 20 December 2024 17:00
Tom Watling
Russia and Ukraine exchange missile attacks, officials say, killing at least 1 person in Kyiv
Friday 20 December 2024 16:00
Tom Watling
Russian chemical weapons chief Kirillov is buried with military honours
Friday 20 December 2024 15:08
Tom Watling
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.
Two AP journalists in Ukraine and the Mideast break down the wars they covered in 2024
Friday 20 December 2024 14:28
Tom Watling
Behind enemy lines: Ukraine’s deadly assassins have terrorised Russia
Friday 20 December 2024 14:00
Tom Watling
Footage shows Syrians throwing stones at Russian convoys
Friday 20 December 2024 13:28
Tom Watling
Classic: Syrians throw stones at Russian military convoy https://t.co/OX4FTCxdN0 pic.twitter.com/IxwSUf0H6G
— Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar_1love) December 20, 2024
Images show destruction of Kyiv church
Friday 20 December 2024 13:00
Tom Watling
Russians targeted historic area of Kyiv, damaging St. Nicolas Cathedral. The blast wave destroyed the stained glass windows of the neo-Gothic cathedral and damaged the historic building. Russia brings barbarism and death.
— Bohdana Neborak (@BohdanaNeborak) December 20, 2024
Ukrainian Institute of Restoration, Serhiy Korovayny pic.twitter.com/yLufTjFml5
US spending millions of dollars maintaining seized Russian yacht
Friday 20 December 2024 12:39
Tom Watling
We have some more pictures of the aftermath of Russian missile strikes on Kyiv
Friday 20 December 2024 12:14
Tom Watling
Kim Jong Un ‘personally overseeing’ North Korean training for Ukraine
Friday 20 December 2024 11:37
Tom Watling
Ukraine claims Russia suffered highest daily losses of war
Friday 20 December 2024 11:20
Tom Watling
Ukraine has claimed that Russian forces suffered more than 2,000 casualties on Thursday, the highest alleged losses in a day since the start of the full-scale invasion.
The Independent was not able to verify these numbers, though British intelligence recently suggested that Russian losses were notably high as Moscow’s troops advanced on Donetsk. They put the average figure over recent months between 1,000 and 1,200.
On December 20, russian personnel losses reached 2,200 soldiers.
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) December 20, 2024
It's the highest daily number since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
The previous record — 2,030 soldiers — was set on November 29, 2024.
We make the occupiers pay the highest price for their terror. pic.twitter.com/3WxdnZjf30
Ukrainian military pulls back from areas in the east
Friday 20 December 2024 11:01
Tom Watling
The Ukrainian military said on Friday its forces had pulled back from the area around Uspenivka and Trudove villages in the eastern region of Donetsk to avoid being encircled by advancing Russian troops.
With the war now in its 33rd month, the Ukrainian forces are engaged in intense defensive battles and are stretched thin as the Russians press forward along the front line.
“The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has decided to withdraw the units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces from the area in question to avoid encirclement,” Ukraine‘s Khortytsia group of forces said on Telegram.
Military units had avoided being surrounded and would continue to operations in the Kurakhove-Konstantinopolske area, a statement said.
Ukraine‘s General Staff reported 18 battles on the Kurakhove front in the past day with Russian forces attempting to advance to the north of the town.
The Russian Defence Ministry said on Friday its forces had taken control of two more settlements in Donetsk region, Uspenivka and Novopustynka. It claimed control of Trudove on Wednesday.
Kyiv mayor visits site of latest Russian attack
Friday 20 December 2024 10:41
Tom Watling
North Korea can produce ballistic missiles for Russia ‘in months’
Friday 20 December 2024 10:18
Tom Watling
US to announce final package of new arms for Ukraine in coming days, sources say
Friday 20 December 2024 10:06
Tom Watling
The Biden administration will announce in the coming days its final Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package, using up the remaining funds set aside to buy new weapons for Ukraine, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The package includes air defense interceptors and artillery munitions, according to a third source, but the exact contents are expected when the package is announced in the coming days. The package will be worth about $1.2 billion, said the sources.
Under USAI, military equipment is procured from the defense industry or partners, rather than drawn from American stocks, meaning it can take months or years to arrive on the battlefield. The USAI package could be among the last steps the United States takes to provide direct military support to Ukraine as Kyiv braces for the return of President-elect Donald Trump, who has publicly questioned military aid and vowed to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office on 20 January.
Since Russia’s invasion of its neighbor in February 2022, the United States has committed $175 billion in aid for Ukraine, including approximately $61.4 billion in security assistance.
About half of that security assistance has come through the USAI program, and the rest has gone toward pulling from existing military stocks via presidential drawdown authority.
There is $5.6 billion remaining of presidential drawdown authority.
Russia and Ukraine exchange missile attacks, officials say, killing at least 1 person in Kyiv
Friday 20 December 2024 09:53
Tom Watling
In pictures: Life in Pokrovsk as Russians advance within miles of the city
Friday 20 December 2024 09:24
Tom Watling
Pictures have dropped showing the last remaining citizens of the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk.
Russian forces are just a few miles from the outskirts of the city having advanced steadily throughout the year.
The city had a prewar of population of around 60,000 but only a few thousands citizens remain.
Ukrainian church damaged after Russian strikes on the capital
Friday 20 December 2024 09:00
Tom Watling
The video shows the aftermath of a Russian attack on Kyiv that damaged St. Nicholas Church, one of Kyiv's most beautiful architectural landmarks (the 2nd photo shows the church before the attack)
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) December 20, 2024
The business center located in front of the church was severely damaged.… pic.twitter.com/HAHwP2IfFp
Russia fires dozens of missiles and drones across Ukraine
Friday 20 December 2024 08:33
Tom Watling
Russia fired nearly 50 missiles and drones at Ukraine overnight, Kyiv’s air force has reported.
In an update on the Telegram messenger app, Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired five ballistic missiles and 40 drones, while an additional 20 drones were lost before they reached their target.
The five missiles were fired at Kyiv at roughly 7am local time, the air force added, killing at least one person and destroying the roof of a high rise building, as well as several other houses.
At about 7:00 AM on December 20, 2024, Russia launched five Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s capital. These missiles were fired from Russia’s Voronezh and Bryansk regions.
— Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) December 20, 2024
All five Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles were successfully intercepted and destroyed.… pic.twitter.com/0ABZcR8Kvx
In pictures: Kyiv hit by Russian missile attack
Friday 20 December 2024 08:21
Tom Watling
Russia is ready to compromise with Trump on Ukraine war, says Putin
Friday 20 December 2024 08:00
Namita Singh
During boasts about Russia’s military achievements in his annual marathon televised news conference, Vladimir Putin says he is ready to compromise over Ukraine in possible talks on ending his war and has no conditions for starting discussions.
The Russian president told one reporter he was ready to meet Donald Trump, who he said he had not spoken to for years.
My colleague Alastair Jamieson reports:
Video: Putin repeats fake Boris Johnson quote in bizarre Ukrainian army claim
Friday 20 December 2024 07:37
Namita Singh
Turkey receives sanctions waiver for gas payments to Russia
Friday 20 December 2024 07:19
Namita Singh
Turkey has received an exemption for gas payments to Russia from sanctions imposed on Gazprombank by the United States, Turkish energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar said.
In November, the US imposed new sanctions on Russia’s Gazprombank as president Joe Biden stepped up actions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine before he leaves office in January.
Gazprom to send 42.4 mcm of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Friday
Friday 20 December 2024 07:06
Namita Singh
Russian gas producer Gazprom said it would send 42.4 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine today, the same volume as yesterday.
Ukraine hits Russia with 10 longer-range Western missiles, says Russia
Friday 20 December 2024 07:00
Alex Croft
Ukraine posts picture of British missiles heading towards Russian forces
The Ukrainian defence ministry has posted a photo purporting to show a British-made Storm Shadow missile being fired towards Russian forces.
Restrictions on the use of missiles to strike inside of Russia were lifted recently, prompting the Kremlin to accuse Ukraine’s western backers of trying to escalate the war. Those concerns were dismissed on the basis that the move was still defensive in nature, intended to blunt Russia’s ability to attack Ukraine.
The Storm Shadow missile is heading toward the occupiers!
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) December 19, 2024
Thank you to and for strengthening Ukraine's long-range capabilities!
: @KpsZSU pic.twitter.com/hA5yVIryKS
One dead in Russian missile attack on Kyiv
Friday 20 December 2024 06:47
Namita Singh
One person has been killed in a Russian missile attack on Kyiv, according to the head of city’s military administration.
The morning attack sparked fires across the city, in addition to damaging an office building, Serhiy Popko said this morning, citing preliminary information.
European leaders line up to support Ukraine ahead of Trump’s presidency
Friday 20 December 2024 06:39
Namita Singh
European leaders are voicing their support for Ukraine as Russia continues to gain ground on the battlefield.
“We need to stand with Ukraine, and every step … needs to be taken with Ukraine and in the presence of the European Union,” said Luxembourg prime minister Luc Frieden. “The future of Ukraine is decided in Europe and not elsewhere,” he said.
Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof underlined that only Ukraine can determine the conditions for talks, “and it is not for us to talk about that. At the moment, Ukraine has not yet indicated that they are prepared to do so.”
The message of support for Ukraine has strengthened amid Ukraine’s weakened position in the war as president-elect Donald Trump is set to assume office next month.
Volodymr Zelensky has also doubled down on his diplomatic efforts, calling on the EU and the US to stay united next year, saying that “only together the United States and Europe can stop Putin and save Ukraine.” He said that the only effective security guarantee remains Nato membership.
Important to ensure longterm aid to Ukraine, says Scholz
Friday 20 December 2024 06:14
Namita Singh
German chancellor Olaf Scholz said it’s important to “ensure long-term aid to Ukraine – it must be clear that we are prepared to enable support as long as it is needed.”
Air defence, artillery and ammunition are high on the list, he told reporters.
On 20 January, Donald Trump returns to the White House, having promised to end the war in Ukraine quickly and talked up his relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Many Europeans are concerned that it might result in a poor deal for Ukraine.
Asked about Mr Trump, Mr Scholz said that his impression from talking to the president-elect “is that good cooperation between Europe and the US is possible”. He said that “the principle is always: no decisions over Ukrainians’ heads, and that of course means over those of the European states.”
No Istanbul agreements between Ukraine and Russia, says Zelensky
Friday 20 December 2024 06:01
Alex Croft
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.
EU leaders say no decisions can be taken on Ukraine behind their backs
Friday 20 December 2024 05:43
Namita Singh
European Union leaders insisted yesterday that no decisions can be taken about the future of war-ravaged Ukraine without its consent — or behind the backs of its partners in Europe, barely a month before president-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Ukraine’s position is precarious, more than 1,000 days into the war. Russia continues to make gains on the battlefield, pushing the front line gradually westward despite suffering heavy casualties. Ukraine’s energy network is in tatters and military recruits are hard to find.
In a show of solidarity at a summit in Brussels with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, many EU leaders repeated a variation of what has become a common mantra — nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, nothing about security in Europe without Europeans.
“Only Ukraine as the aggressed country can legitimately define what peace means —and if and when the conditions are met for credible negotiations,” summit host António Costa said at the end of the daylong meeting of the 27-nation bloc.
“So now is not the time to speculate about different scenarios. Now is the time to strengthen Ukraine for all scenarios,” said Mr Costa, the president of the European Council.
Zelensky asks allies for coordinated effort for lasting peace in Ukraine
Friday 20 December 2024 05:01
Alex Croft
President Volodymyr Zelensky made a fresh appeal to European allies to coordinate work to reach lasting peace in Ukraine which is battling Russia’s almost three-year full-scale invasion.
“We need coordinated work for lasting peace, not just the suspension of hostilities that Putin seeks to buy time. We must push Moscow towards genuine, sustainable and guaranteed peace,” Mr Zelensky said in his address to the European Council.
Russia should have sent troops to Ukraine earlier, says Putin
Friday 20 December 2024 04:55
Namita Singh
Russia should have invaded Ukraine earlier, said Russian president Vladimir Putin as he claimed the war had strengthened Russia’s military and economic power.
Mr Putin made the comments during his annual press conference, a tightly choreographed event which lasted about four and half hours and spanned everything from consumer prices to military hardware.
A number of questioned covered the invasion of Ukraine, and Mr Putin said that if he could do it over, “such a decision should have been made earlier” and Russia could have “prepared for it in advance and more thoroughly”.
“Russia has become much stronger over the past two or three years because it has become a truly sovereign country,” he said. “We are standing firm in terms of economy, we are strengthening our defence potential and our military capability now is the strongest in the world.”
Pictures: Uzbek man charged for Russian Lieutenant General's killing
Friday 20 December 2024 04:10
Namita Singh
Russia will remain a threat to Europe even after Ukraine war, Finland says
Friday 20 December 2024 04:03
Alex Croft
Russia and countries that support it will remain a danger to Europe even after the war in Ukraine has ended, Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said on Thursday.
“Russia, together with its allies, will remain a dangerous actor in Europe even after the war in Ukraine and we cannot exclude the possibility of threatening European countries with the use of military force,” Hakkanen told a press conference.
Finland on Thursday published its first defence policy review since it last year joined the NATO military alliance in a historic policy shift brought on by neighbouring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow charges Uzbek man for killing of Russian general
Friday 20 December 2024 03:50
Namita Singh
An Uzbek citizen accused of acting on behalf of Ukraine has been charged by Russian authorities with this week’s assassination of a senior Russian general and his assistant in a bombing claimed by Ukraine’s security services, state media reported yesterday.
Akhmadzhon Kurbonov was ordered detained by a Moscow court until at least 17 February in Tuesday’s bombing that killed Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the chief of Russia’s Radiation, Biological and Chemical Protection Forces, the Tass state news agency reported.
Mr Kurbonov was charged with the killings, carrying out a terrorist act and illegally manufacturing explosives, the Russian news agency said.
Kirillov was killed by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building in Moscow, a day after Ukraine’s security service leveled criminal charges against him. His assistant, Ilya Polikarpov, also was killed.
Five killed in Russian missile attack in Kryvyi Rih
Friday 20 December 2024 03:40
Namita Singh
A Russian missile struck and badly damaged a two-storey residence in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, injuring five people, including two pulled alive from under the rubble, officials said.
Serhiy Lysak, governor of Dnipropetrovsk region, wrote on Telegram that a man and a teenage girl had been rescued in Kryvyi Rih, president Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown. Windows were shattered in a nearby 10-storey apartment building.
Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city’s military administration, said three other people were injured. He said rescue operations had been completed.