Russia says Ukrainian drone strike kills 24 in Kherson region
Moscow on Thursday said a Ukrainian drone strike killed 24 people and wounded at least 50 more as they celebrated the New Year in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine’s Kherson region. Ukraine denied these allegations, claiming that Kyiv's forces exclusively targeted Russian military or energy sites. Follow our liveblog to see how the day's events unfolded.
This liveblog is no longer being updated.
This liveblog is no longer being updated. Follow our coverage of the war in Ukraine here.
Ukrainian military says it attacks strictly military, energy targets
A Ukrainian military spokesperson, asked about a drone strike on a hotel in a Russian-held part of the Kherson region, told Interfax Ukraine news agency that Kyiv's forces exclusively targeted Russian military or energy sites.
The General Staff spokesperson did not refer specifically to Russian accounts of a strike on a hotel, but said all strikes by the Ukrainian military were published on a general staff social media page.
"The Defence Forces of Ukraine adhere to the norms of international humanitarian law and strike exclusively at enemy military targets, fuel and energy facilities of the Russian Federation, and other legitimate targets," Interfax quoted the spokesperson as saying.
Russia hands to US what it says is proof of attempted Ukrainian strike on Putin residence
A senior Russian military chief handed to a US military attache what he said was part of a Ukrainian drone containing data he said proved that the Ukrainian military this week had targeted a Russian presidential residence.
Moscow accused Kyiv on Monday of trying to strike a residence of President Vladimir Putin in Russia's northern Novgorod region with 91 long-range attack drones. It said Russia would review its negotiating position in ongoing talks with the US on ending the Ukraine war.
Ukraine and Western countries have disputed Russia's account of the alleged attempted strike.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that US national security officials had found Ukraine did not target Putin or one of his residences in a drone strike.
Russia asks US to stop pursuit of fleeing oil tanker, NY Times reports
Russia has asked the US to stop its pursuit of an oil tanker that was heading to Venezuela and is now fleeing the US Coast Guard in the Atlantic Ocean, the New York Times reported, citing two people with knowledge of the matter.
Ship seized in Finland carried EU-sanctioned Russian steel
A vessel seized in Finland suspected of damaging a telecommunications cable between Helsinki and Tallinn was transporting Russian steel targeted by European Union sanctions, Finnish Customs said.
Finnish police on Wednesday detained the Fitburg, a 132-metre-long cargo ship en route from St Petersburg, Russia, to Haifa, Israel, and its 14 crew members following suspicion the ship's anchor had damaged the subsea telecoms cable in the Gulf of Finland.
"Preliminary information indicated that the cargo consisted of steel products originating in Russia, which are subject to extensive sanctions imposed on Russia," Finnish Customs said in a statement.
Seized vessel Fitburg rests in harbour in Kirkkonummi, Finland, December 31, 2025. Roni Rekomaa/Lehtikuva via Reuters
Ukraine's lead peace negotiator says he met Turkey's foreign minister
Ukraine's top negotiator in US-brokered peace talks, Rustem Umerov, said he met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Thursday in Ankara.
Umerov, who is also Ukraine's security council secretary, said the two men discussed the negotiation process and next steps, with particular attention to humanitarian issues and the return of Ukrainians held by Russia.
Russia's Investigative Committee opens probe into alleged Ukrainian drone strike on Kherson
Russia's Investigative Committee said it had opened a probe into an alleged Ukrainian drone strike on the Black Sea coast village of Khorly that had "killed more than 20 people and injured many more".
Russia has accused Ukraine of killing at least 24 people, including a child, in a drone strike on a hotel and cafe where civilians were seeing in the New Year in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's southern Kherson region.
Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of the region, first made the accusation about the strike in a statement.
Reuters was not able to immediately verify photographs of what Saldo's press service said was the aftermath of the attack or the allegation.
At least one dead body was visible in the images beneath a white sheet. The building showed signs that a fierce fire had raged and there were what looked like blood stains on the ground.
Ukraine's military says it hit Russia's Ilsky refinery
Ukraine's military said it had hit Russia's Ilsky oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar region overnight, adding that the results of the attack were still being confirmed.
In a statement on Telegram, the military also said it hit the Almetevskaya oil preparation facility in Russia's Tatarstan region.
The Almetevskaya facility is more than 965 kilometres from the nearest part of Ukraine, and even further from the nearest territory currently controlled by Kyiv.
- Russian-installed Kherson governor accuses Ukraine of killing 24 in New Year drone strike
- More than 100,00 homes left without power by Russian overnight drone attack, Ukraine says
- Zelensky says Russia 'brings war into the New Year' with fresh strikes on Ukraine
- Ukrainian military says it attacks strictly military, energy targets
- Russia hands to US what it says is proof of attempted Ukrainian strike on Putin residence
Zelensky says Russia 'brings war into the New Year' with fresh strikes on Ukraine
More than 100,00 homes left without power by Russian overnight drone attack, Ukraine says
A Russian drone attack damaged power infrastructure in several Ukrainian regions overnight, Ukraine's energy ministry said on Thursday.
The ministry said a "significant number" of households in the Volyn and Odesa regions – in northwestern and southwestern Ukraine, respectively – were disconnected from power supplies by the strike, as well as some in the Chernihiv region north of the capital Kyiv.
The governor of Volyn said more than 103,000 households in that region had lost power as a result of the attack. Volyn region is several hundred kilometres from the front line and borders NATO member Poland.
Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone strike in Volyn region, Ukraine in this handout picture released January 1, 2026. Photo: Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Volyn region via Reuters
Ukrainian drones strike energy storage facility in Russia's Tatarstan, local governor says
Ukrainian drones struck an energy storage facility in the Russian city of Almetyevsk, causing a fire that has since been extinguished, Russian media cited the press service of the local governor as saying.
Kyiv has been intensifying strikes against Russian energy infrastructure in recent months, aiming to cut off Moscow's sources of financing for its military campaign in Ukraine.
Almetyevsk is located around 1,700 kilometres from Ukrainian-held territory, in the oil-rich Volga river region of Tatarstan.
Ukraine says it has deployed two new Patriot air defence systems received from Germany
Ukraine's Defence Ministry said it had deployed two new Patriot air defence systems received from Germany as part of military aid supplies announced previously.
"Two more Patriot air defence systems have been deployed to protect Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure," the ministry said in a post on Telegram.
Germany said last August that it would deliver two Patriot systems to Ukraine after reaching an agreement with the US that Berlin would be first in line to receive the latest systems in return.
Russian overnight attacks on Ukraine fell in December, Ukrainian data shows
Ukrainian air force data showed a slight fall in overnight Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine in December, despite strikes on energy infrastructure cutting power to hundreds of thousands of people, an AFP analysis showed.
Russia fired at least 5,134 drones in overnight attacks in the final month of 2025, six percent less than the month before, while the number of missiles fell by 18 percent in the same period, according to the data.
Russian-installed Kherson governor accuses Ukraine of killing 24 in New Year drone strike
The Russian-installed governor of Ukraine's southern Kherson region on Thursday accused Ukraine of killing at least 24 people in a drone strike on a hotel and cafe where New Year celebrations were being held.
The governor, Vladimir Saldo, made the allegation in a statement on the Telegram messaging service.
Ukraine's military did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment, and Saldo did not provide visuals or other evidence that would allow the allegation to be verified.
Saldo alleged in his post that three Ukrainian drones had struck the site of new New Year celebrations in Khorly, a coastal village, in what he said was a "deliberate strike".
Russian state news agencies reported that at least 24 people had been killed and 29 more injured, citing the local branch of Russia's emergencies ministry.
Kherson is one of four regions in Ukraine which Russia claimed as its own in 2022.
Kim Jong-un hails North Korea's 'invincible alliance' with Russia in New Year's letter
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has praised his troops fighting abroad as forging an "invincible alliance" with Russia in a new year's message, state media said.
Pyongyang has sent thousands of troops to support Russia's nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine, according to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies.
At least 600 have died and thousands more have sustained injuries, according to South Korean estimates that could not be independently confirmed.
On Thursday Kim praised his men fighting in an "alien land", congratulating their "heroic" defence of the nation's honour and instructing them to "be brave", the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.
"As the whole country is enveloped in a festive atmosphere of greeting the new year, I all the more miss you, who are fighting bravely on the battlefields in the alien land even at this moment," he said.
Kim hinted that more overseas action could take place this year, highlighting "remarkable feats you will perform on the overseas battlefields".
Russian air defences down five Moscow-bound drones, mayor says
Russian air defence units downed five Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow on New Year's Eve, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
Sobyanin, in a series of posts on Telegram over a little more than three hours into early on Thursday morning, said specialist crews were examining fragments from the drones at the sites where they had hit the ground.
Sobyanin made no mention of casualties or damage.
Restrictions were placed on Moscow's Domodedovo airport for a time. Other airports in southern and central Russia were also subject to temporary restrictions.
Zelensky says deal to end Ukraine war '10 percent' away
Speaking in his New Year address to the nation, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine wanted the war to end, but not at any cost. He added that he would not sign a "weak" peace agreement that would only prolong the war.
Zelensky said Ukrainians were exhausted from nearly four years of war.
"What does Ukraine want? Peace? Yes. At any cost? No. We want an end to the war but not the end of Ukraine," Zelensky, wearing a dark green embroidered Ukrainian shirt, said in the 21-minute address issued just before midnight.
"Are we tired? Very. Does this mean we are ready to surrender? Anyone who thinks so is deeply mistaken."
Zelensky said any signature "placed on weak agreements only fuel the war".
"My signature will be placed on a strong agreement. And that is exactly what every meeting, every phone call, every decision is about now," he said. "To secure a strong peace for everyone, not for a day, a week or two months, but peace for years."
Zelensky said weeks of US-led diplomacy, including his talks last weekend with US President Donald Trump in Florida, had produced a peace deal that was nearly ready.
"A peace agreement is 90 percent ready, 10 percent remains," he said. "That 10 percent contains everything, it is the 10 percent that will determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe and how people will live."
Yesterday's key developments:
- Russia released a video of a drone it says Ukraine fired at Putin's residence in northwestern Russia.
- At least six people were wounded in Russian drone strikes on Odesa.
- Russian attacks on Odesa's energy infrastructure left more than 170,000 people without power, Ukraine's energy ministry said.
- Ukraine described video footage showing an alleged drone attack on Putin's house as "laughable".
- French President Emmanuel Macron said allies will make commitments on protecting Ukraine at a January 6 meeting.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)