KYIV: Russian missile and drone attacks killed at least three people, including a four-year-old child, across Ukraine on Tuesday, triggering emergency power cuts and heightening regional security concerns as the war nears its fourth year.
Read More: Russia intensifies strikes on Odesa, cuts power to 120000
According to Ukrainian officials, the strikes hit multiple regions, with western areas and energy infrastructure bearing the brunt. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the attacks caused widespread disruptions to electricity supplies, forcing authorities to impose emergency outages to stabilise the grid.
The violence prompted neighbouring Poland, a Nato member, to scramble its jets after Russian strikes targeted areas close to the Polish border. Warsaw said Polish and allied aircraft were deployed to safeguard its airspace amid fears of spillover from the conflict.
Russia launched an overnight barrage of drones and missiles across Ukraine, killing at least three people and forcing large-scale power cuts.
The strikes have regularly damaged Ukrainian energy infrastructure, leaving many in the dark until repairs can be made. pic.twitter.com/dFNjBRlRNl
— DW News (@dwnews) December 23, 2025
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia targeted at least 13 regions, including Kyiv and central and western provinces, as Ukrainians prepared for Christmas. He said the attacks undermined Moscow’s stated interest in peace following recent US-led talks aimed at ending the war.
“Putin still cannot accept that he must stop killing,” Zelenskiy said, urging the international community to intensify pressure on Moscow. Ukrainian officials reported that, in addition to the child killed in Zhytomyr, fatalities occurred in Khmelnytskyi and near the capital, while several others were wounded.
Russia’s defence ministry said it struck Ukrainian energy and military facilities and claimed territorial gains along the front line, assertions that Kyiv often disputes. Moscow has intensified attacks on energy and logistics targets to increase leverage in negotiations, while Ukraine has continued strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone attacks sparked fires at industrial sites in Russia’s Stavropol and Krasnodar regions, according to local officials. The exchange underscored the widening scope of the conflict.
Read More: US intel warns Putin’s Ukraine goals remain unchanged
Separately, Ukraine warned that damage to the radiation shelter at the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant could worsen. Plant director Sergiy Tarakanov said another strike could cause the inner structure to collapse, raising serious safety concerns at the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster.