{"id":120183,"date":"2024-12-25T20:54:55","date_gmt":"2024-12-25T20:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-putins-inhumane-christmas-day-attack-leaves-half-a-million-without-heating-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2024-12-25T20:54:55","modified_gmt":"2024-12-25T20:54:55","slug":"ukraine-russia-war-latest-putins-inhumane-christmas-day-attack-leaves-half-a-million-without-heating-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-putins-inhumane-christmas-day-attack-leaves-half-a-million-without-heating-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin\u2019s \u2018inhumane\u2019 Christmas Day attack leaves half a million without heating – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in<\/span>Please refresh your browser to be logged in<\/span>
At least one person killed and six wounded as Putin launches more than 70 missiles at Ukraine on Christmas Day
Independent Premium
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Half a million people have been left without heating in Kharkiv as Vladimir Putin<\/a>\u2019s forces launched a huge missile and drone attack on Ukraine<\/a>, condemned as \u201cinhumane\u201d by Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a>.
The strikes wounded at least six people in the city of Kharkiv and killed one in the region of Dnipropetrovsk, local governors said.
The Ukrainian president said more than 70 missiles, including ballistic missiles, and more than 100 attack drones were used to strike Ukraine\u2019s power sources. Kyiv managed to shoot down at least 50 missiles and a significant number of drones, he said.
\u201cPutin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhumane?\u201d Mr Zelensky said. \u201cThey continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine.\u201d
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the \u201cbloody and brutal\u201d attacks, \u201cwith no respite, even at Christmas\u201d.
It came a day after at least one person was killed and 15 injured in Mr Zelensky\u2019s hometown after a ballistic missile struck an apartment building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih.
A large-scale Russian missile and drone attack targeting Ukraine\u2019s energy system on Christmas Day has been condemned as \u201cinhumane\u201d by president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Half a million people were left without heating in Kharkiv in temperatures just a few degrees above freezing, as blackouts were reported in Kyiv and other regions.
At least one person was killed and six others wounded in the attack, described by one Ukrainian energy chief as Vladimir Putin\u2019s \u201cstate-sponsored terrorism\u201d.
You can read the full report on today\u2019s events below:<\/em>
Russia confirmed it fired more than 70 missiles at Ukraine on Christmas Day
Just over 44 per cent of Ukrainians trust US president-elect Donald Trump, around 10 points less than president Joe Biden, a survey by the New Europe Centre showed.
In comparison, a separate June poll by the Pew Research Center suggested that Hungarians trusted Mr Trump the most at 37 percent, followed by Britain at 30 per cent and then France with 16 per cent of the population trusting him.
\u201cThis high level of support is likely due to the expectation of a clearer and more decisive policy towards Ukraine from the new US administration,\u201d New Europe Centre researchers said.
Just over 70 per cent of Ukrainians support gradual Nato accession akin to West Germany\u2019s model, a new survey by the Kyiv-based New Europe Centre showed.
This invitation would cover Ukraine, but the alliance\u2019s defensive umbrella would only extend to occupied territories after liberation.
Different Nato accession pathways are gaining traction in both the West and Kyiv as Russia holds a military advantage on the battlefield and the prospect of liberating occupied territories militarily remains slim.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that $1bn reportedly sent to Ukraine by Washington via the World Bank and covered by profits generated by frozen Russian assets amounted to theft.
\u201cThis money has been stolen from us. And those reserves that are blocked, they are also blocked absolutely illegally. This is contrary to all norms and rules,\u201d Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
\u201cSuch illegal actions, including the transfer of this billion, may, of course, in the long term become a reason for our legal action. And we will, of course, use every opportunity to protect our rights and our property rights.\u201d
Moldova\u2019s president has condemned the violation of its airspace by a Russian missile, as Vladimir Putin\u2019s forces launched vast attacks on Ukraine.
Maia Sandu said: \u201cWhile our countries celebrate Christmas, the Kremlin chooses destruction \u2014 targeting Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure and violating Moldova\u2019s airspace with a missile, actions that clearly violate international law.
\u201cMoldova condemns these actions and stands in full solidarity with Ukraine.\u201d
A woman is reported to have been killed by Russian shelling in Ukraine\u2019s Kharkiv region.
The Kupiansk prosecutor\u2019s office said it had opened a pre-trial war crimes investigation after a 53-year-old woman was killed by Russian shelling on the village of Novoosinove, which damaged residential homes and outbuildings, broadcaster Suspilne reported.
In a comment piece for Independent Voices<\/em>, historian Mark Almond <\/em><\/strong>writes:
Ukrainians faced another barrage of Russian rockets and drones on Christmas Day, showing that Vladimir Putin\u2019s war grinds on regardless of the calendar.
You may think \u2013 as a born-again Russian Orthodox believer \u2013 Putin is saving the season of goodwill for 7 January. Unlike Ukraine (which dropped the old Orthodox calendar and adopted 25 December as its holiday), Putin\u2019s Russia cleaves to old imperial Russian tradition.
But changing the date of Christmas was not so much a theological realignment with the Catholic West, as a geopolitical signal of Kyiv\u2019s determination to integrate with Nato and the EU.
That is, of course, a red rag to Putin.
And behind the Kremlin\u2019s insistence on fighting to save the Russian \u201csoul\u201d of a Western-drifting Ukraine, there are crude practical benefits of seizing the territory where today\u2019s fighting is worst.
Behind the Kremlin\u2019s insistence on fighting to save the Russian \u2018soul\u2019 of a western-drifting Ukraine, there are crude practical benefits from seizing the territory where today\u2019s fighting is worst, writes Mark Almond
Authorities in Russia\u2019s southern Krasnodar region have declared a region-wide emergency, saying that oil was still washing up on the coastline 10 days after two ageing tankers ran into trouble.
The oil is from the tankers which were hit by a storm on 15 December. One of the vessels split in half, while the other ran aground.
The pollution, which has coated sandy beaches at and around Anapa, a popular summer resort, has caused serious problems for seabirds and everything from dolphins to porpoises and over 10,000 people have been trying to clear it up.
Veniamin Kondratiev, governor of the Krasnodar region, said that he had decided to declare a region-wide emergency because oil was still polluting the coastline in the Anapa and Temryuk districts.
Ukrainian drones have recently destroyed an ammunition depot at the Kadamovsky military training ground in Russia\u2019s Rostov region, a source in Ukraine\u2019s SBU security service told the Kyiv Independent<\/em>.
\u201cIt was used by the enemy to supply its troops in the Kramatorsk sector [in Ukraine\u2019s Donetsk region],\u201d the source was quoted as saying.
\u201cNow the Russians have significant logistical difficulties, which significantly affect their ability to conduct combat operations.\u201d
This is the second year that Ukraine has officially celebrated Christmas on December 25, in a move to separate itself from Russia\u2019s cultural influence.
The Russian Orthodox Church, which claims sovereignty over Ukraine\u2019s Orthodox Christians, celebrates Christmas on January 7, following the ancient Julian calendar.
Last year Mr Zelensky signed a law moving Ukraine\u2019s official Christmas Day to December 25, with a goal of abandoning the \u201cRussian heritage\u201d of the Orthodox Christmas.
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in<\/span>Please refresh your browser to be logged in<\/span><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inAt least one person killed and six wounded as Putin launches more than 70 missiles at Ukraine on Christmas Day Independent PremiumWant to bookmark your favourite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":120184,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-120183","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}