Three killed after Russia launches ‘massive’ attack across Ukraine

Russia carried out a “massive” overnight attack on several Ukrainian cities, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, a day after he warned of strikes over the Christmas period.

At least three people were killed, according to Ukrainian officials, including a four-year-old child, while energy infrastructure was also targeted, leaving several regions without power.

Russia launched 635 drones and 38 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said, adding that 621 of them were downed.

Zelensky said “people simply want to be with their families, at home, and safe” in the run-up to Christmas, and said the strikes sent “an extremely clear signal about Russia’s priorities” despite ongoing peace talks.

He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin “still cannot accept that he must stop killing. And that means that the world is not putting enough pressure on Russia”.

Zelensky had previously warned it was in the Kremlin’s “nature” to “carry out massive attacks” during the festive period.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.

Local authorities in the central Zhytomyr region confirmed a child’s death.

Regional head Vitaly Bunechko said the child “was taken to hospital, doctors fought for (the child’s) life but could not save (the child) in the end”. Five others were injured in the strike, he added.

Meanwhile, a 76-year-old woman was killed and three people injured when a house in the Kyiv region was struck, according to Ukraine’s state emergencies service.

An attack in Khmelnytskyy, western Ukraine, killed a 72-year-old, regional administration head Serhiy Tyurin said.

Polish fighter jets were scrambled in response to missiles and drones targeting west Ukraine.

The Russian defence ministry said it had targeted Ukrainian “military-industrial complex plants and supporting energy facilities”. It added that all the designated targets had been hit.

Meanwhile, Ukraine reportedly struck a petrochemical plant in Stravropol, southern Russia.

Videos shared by Russian media channels online showed large flames rising from the direction of the plant.

The region’s governor, Vladimir Vladimirov, said a Ukrainian drone hit the plant and sparked a fire. No casualties were reported and residential buildings were left undamaged.

With temperatures expected to fall to as low as -7C on Wednesday, Ukraine’s energy operator warned of emergency power shutdowns “in all regions” and urged people to use energy “sparingly”.

Acting energy minister Artem Nekrasov said it was the ninth large attack on Ukraine’s energy system this year, and that supply in the Rivne, Ternopil and Khmelnytsky regions has been “almost completely” lost.

Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Merezhko told the BBC World Service that some areas could be without power “for days”.

The main focus of Russian attacks in recent days has been the southern port city of Odesa, which comes after Vladimir Putin threatened to sever Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea.

The Russian president made the threat in retaliation for Ukrainian drone attacks on tankers belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet”, vessels used to move goods including oil which are under Western sanctions.

In the Ukrainian capital, many suspect the overnight attack is linked to Monday’s killing of a top Russian general after a car bomb exploded in Moscow.

Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov – the head of the armed forces’ operational training department – died in the blast, which Russia has blamed on Ukraine. Kyiv has not commented.

It also comes after the latest round of US-led diplomatic talks in Miami, where envoys from Washington and Kyiv have been drafting detailed proposals to end the war.

According to Zelensky, the US had proposed a Christmas truce but Russia rejected the idea.

Zelensky said he received a progress report on the talks on Tuesday morning, and that “several draft documents have now been prepared”, including a basic framework to end the war, future security guarantees for Ukraine, and on the country’s post-war recovery.

Putin was also due to be briefed by his envoy Kirill Dmitriev on Tuesday on the latest discussions with Washington.