Published On 23 Dec 202523 Dec 2025
Here is where things stand on Tuesday, December 23:
Fighting
- A car bomb killed Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov in southern Moscow, the third such killing of a senior Russian military officer in just more than a year. Russian investors pointed the finger at Ukraine. Kyiv has not commented on the incident.
- Russian forces struck Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa late on Monday, damaging port facilities and a ship in the second such attack on the region in less than 24 hours, according to Ukrainian officials.
- Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said on the Telegram app that the latest attack on Odesa is part of Russia’s attempt “to disrupt maritime logistics by launching systematic attacks on port and energy infrastructure”.
- Kuleba said the attack also caused damage to energy infrastructure, disrupting electricity supply to more than 120,000 customers in the Odesa region. One person was hurt in the attack, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed media reports that residents of Hrabovske village, straddling the border with Russia in Ukraine’s Sumy region and home to 52 people, were taken by Russian troops. Zelenskyy said that 13 Ukrainian servicemen were among those taken.
- Ukraine’s military said it hit a Tamanneftegaz oil terminal in Russia’s Krasnodar region in an overnight attack, causing explosions and a fire. The Ukrainian General Staff said the oil terminal was part of Russia’s energy infrastructure that supported the financing and logistics of Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.
- A Ukrainian drone attack also damaged two vessels in the same region. All crew on the ships at the Volna terminal have been safely evacuated, according to regional authorities.
- Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it had captured Vilcha village in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region. The claim could not be immediately verified.
Politics and diplomacy
