These are the important thing developments from day 1,400 of Russia’s conflict on Ukraine.
Printed On 25 Dec 2025
Right here is the place issues stand on Thursday, December 25:
Combating
- An explosion in Moscow killed three individuals, together with two law enforcement officials, simply days after a automotive bomb killed a high-ranking Russian common in the identical space of the capital.
- An official from Ukraine’s army intelligence, referred to as GUR, instructed The Related Press information company that the assault had been carried out as a part of a Ukrainian operation and the 2 law enforcement officials had been focused for collaborating in Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
- Russian air defence items downed 16 Ukrainian drones en path to Moscow all through Wednesday, the capital’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated.
- Sobyanin stated the drones had been repelled over a interval of about 17 hours, and emergency crews had been analyzing fragments the place the drones hit the bottom, however no injury was reported.
- Two of 4 main airports servicing Moscow had been compelled to restrict operations for a time as a result of drone assaults, Russia’s civil aviation authority stated on Telegram.
- Russia’s Ministry of Defence stated its aerial defence items destroyed 172 Ukrainian drones in a single day, practically half of them over areas bordering Ukraine.
- Ukraine stated its drones had struck the Yefremov artificial rubber plant in Russia’s Tula area, south of Moscow, and a storage facility for marine drones in Russian-occupied Crimea.
- Tula regional governor, Dmitry Milyaev, stated particles from a downed Ukrainian drone ignited a hearth at an industrial web site, and Russian air defence items destroyed 12 Ukrainian drones over the area.
- A sunflower oil spill, brought on by Russian aerial bombardments, has contaminated the shoreline across the southern Ukrainian metropolis of Odesa, killing wildlife and triggering warnings from conservationists, the AFP information company experiences.
- “The trigger was injury to sunflower oil tanks because of large enemy assaults on port infrastructure, inflicting a few of the oil to spill,” Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper stated in a press release. The Pivdenny port within the area was briefly closed on Wednesday to assist with the cleanup.
- A Russian-backed courtroom in occupied Ukraine sentenced a Colombian man to 19 years in jail for combating for Kyiv’s military.
- Russia’s Prosecutor Normal stated the Supreme Court docket within the Russian-controlled space of Ukraine’s Donetsk area sentenced Oscar Mauricio Blanco Lopez, 42, to 19 years in jail. The Colombian arrived in Ukraine in Could 2024 to enroll with the Ukrainian military and had been “taken prisoner by Russian servicemen” in December 2025.
Ceasefire talks
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed for the primary time particulars of an settlement between the USA and Ukrainian negotiators on ending the conflict with Russia. The 20-point plan, agreed on by US and Ukrainian negotiators after marathon talks, is now being reviewed by Moscow.
- As a part of the plan, President Zelenskyy stated Ukraine could be prepared to withdraw troops from the nation’s jap industrial heartland if Moscow additionally pulled again and the realm turns into a demilitarised zone monitored by worldwide forces.
- The same association could possibly be potential for the realm across the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant, which is presently underneath Russian management, Zelenskyy stated. The Ukrainian chief stated that any peace plan would must be put to a referendum in Ukraine.
- Requested concerning the newest growth in ceasefire talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated Moscow would determine its place based mostly on data obtained by Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who met with US envoys in Florida over the weekend.
- Russia has given no indication that it’ll conform to any sort of withdrawal from land it has seized in Ukraine. Moscow has additionally insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it nonetheless holds within the Donbas. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70 p.c of Donetsk – the 2 areas that make up the Donbas.
Politics and diplomacy
- A majority of Russians count on the conflict in Ukraine to finish in 2026, Russia’s state pollster VTsIOM stated, in an indication that the Kremlin could possibly be testing public response to a potential peace settlement as diplomatic efforts to finish the battle intensify.
- Through the pollster’s year-end presentation, VTsIOM Deputy Head Mikhail Mamonov stated 70 p.c of the 1,600 respondents noticed 2026 as a extra “profitable” 12 months for Russia than 2025, whereas for 55 p.c that hope was linked to a potential finish to Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
- A Russian courtroom has scheduled the primary public listening to in a legal case towards German sculptor Jacques Tilly, who’s accused of discrediting the Russian army by way of his satirical Carnival floats depicting Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
- The courtroom in Moscow stated the trial will start on December 30 and proceedings will probably be held in absentia, as Tilly – who faces as much as 10 years in jail or a fantastic – shouldn’t be in Russia.
- Zelenskyy stated in his Christmas tackle on Wednesday that regardless of marking the vacation at a “tough” time, the nation’s unity stays intact. “Ukrainians are collectively tonight,” Zelenskyy stated, including the nation had “indisputably” been modified by the conflict. “It hardly issues what dishes are on the desk – what issues is who’s on the desk,” he stated.
Regional safety
- France’s President Emmanuel Macron stated he spoke with NATO chief Mark Rutte to focus on the scenario in Ukraine and the work undertaken by the “coalition of the prepared”. “Beginning in January in Paris, we will proceed the work begun inside this framework to offer Ukraine with stable safety ensures, a prerequisite for a sturdy and lasting peace,” Macron stated on social media.
- Democratic senators within the US have urged President Donald Trump to reverse a recall of practically 30 profession ambassadors, warning the transfer leaves a harmful management vacuum that enables adversaries like Russia and China to increase their affect. The Trump administration in latest days has ordered profession diplomats serving throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America again to Washington to make sure US missions overseas mirror its “America First” priorities.
Economics
- Kazakhstan’s exports of its flagship CPC Mix of oil will probably be their lowest in 14 months in December, as dangerous climate delays efforts to restore Russian loading infrastructure after Ukrainian drone strikes final month, two sources instructed the Reuters information company.
- On November 29, Ukrainian drones hit the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal situated close to Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, leaving only one out of three jetties operational and prolonging export delays. Poor climate has added to the problem of finishing up upkeep work vital to permit exports to get well.
- Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance stated it accomplished the settlement of a deal to restructure $2.6bn of growth-linked debt.
