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Stay on top of Russia-Ukraine war 12-25-2024 developments on the ground with KyivPost fact-based news, exclusive video footage, photos and updated war maps.
Kyiv says on Christmas morning, a Russian missile targeting Ukraine’s energy grid flew through Moldovan and Romanian airspace; Bucharest says none was detected while Chișinău says it is investigating.
NATO member Romania said Wednesday it had not detected any Russian missile passing through its airspace to target Ukraine as claimed by Kyiv.
Ukraine said Russia had launched 170 drones and missiles targeting its energy grid in an “inhumane” Christmas Day attack.
So, this is Christmas, and what have we done, another year over and the war goes on and on.
Greetings friends. It’s Dec. 25 and I’ve got John Lennon’s “So this is Christmas” song playing over and over in my head. Especially his idealistic refrain: “War is over.” I wish it were, but it’s not.
Christmas is supposed to be a joyous celebration that evokes peace, joy and optimism. But for embattled Ukraine and its supporters, this year it’s unfortunately another bleak one.
In Ukraine, during World War II and after, resistance fighters had to hide in the forests. How did the soldiers fighting a guerilla war against the Nazis and Soviets manage to celebrate Christmas?
During the Second World War, the Ukrainian patriotic resistance movement fighting for an independent Ukraine known as the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) engaged in fierce battles for survival on several fronts – against both Nazi and Soviet troops.
For nearly a decade after the war officially ended for most countries, they continued their insurgency against Soviet forces in the forests of Western Ukraine.
Today, people around the world celebrate Christmas, one of the greatest holidays of the year, because it gives us hope for a free, independent, bright future.
Finally, Ukraine is celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25 with the rest of the world freed from Russia’s imperialistic tutelage but still having to fight to secure this freedom.
Dear friends!
The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.
On Christmas morning in Ukraine, Russia launched a massive attack with missiles and drones across the country. Explosions were reported in Dnipro, Kremenchuk, Kryvyi Rih, Ivano-Frankivsk and Kharkiv - where in Ukraine’s second largest city ten separate strikes were reported. At least six people were reported injured in Kharkiv, and at least half a million people are reported to be without heat. In Kyiv, people sheltered in metro stations as air raid sirens blared. Some of the rockets appear to have transited the airspace of Moldova and Romania. Critical infrastructure was once again a key target: power outages have been introduced in several regions. In Dnipropetrovsk, some areas will have power for only five hours today. Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said the attack was the 13th major attack on the Ukrainian energy sector this year. Just after 08:00 GMT, air raid sirens across the country were again triggered due to further missile threats.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Russian strikes were premeditated. “Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhumane? More than 70 missiles, including ballistic ones, and more than a hundred strike drones. The targets are our energy sector. They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine.”
The Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital restarted its operations, made calls to donate blood and put up a tiny Christmas tree – missile strikes and untransparent reconstruction are now in the past.
The blood donation center at Kyiv’s Ohmatdyt children’s hospital was also damaged and made temporarily non-operational after the July 8 Russian missile strike.
Although the department and its offices are relatively far from the main impact site, its windows were shattered there were risks of costly equipment and other property inside the building being damaged by rainwater.
More than 70 missiles, including ballistic missiles, and over one hundred attack drones targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Christmas morning.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday denounced an “inhumane” attack from Russia, which launched dozens of missiles and drones on his war-torn country’s energy grid on Christmas Day.
The country woke up at 5:30 am (0330 UTC) to an air raid alarm, shortly followed by air force reports that Russia had launched Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea.
Tranches from the IMF, EU, US and other countries have kept flowing to cover Ukraine’s social wages, budget deficit and to add to the central bank’s international reserves.
In December 2024, Ukraine signed memorandums to receive tranches of a loan backed by Russian immobilized assets (ERA loan) and received financial aid from the EU, IMF and the US through the World Bank.
Kyiv Post has made a list of tranches Ukraine has received during December 2024.
Air raid sirens rang out over Ukraine on Christmas morning, while the air force reported Russian Kalibr cruise missiles had been launched from the Black Sea
Russian missiles killed at least one person and damaged energy infrastructure across Ukraine, according to officials, who reported a massive Christmas attack.
Air raid sirens rang out over Ukraine on Wednesday morning, while the air force reported Russian Kalibr cruise missiles had been launched from the Black Sea.
The UK is no stranger to scrutiny over large-scale donations to political parties, but the prospect of Elon Musk’s contribution to far-right Reform UK raises deeper concerns.
The prospect of Elon Musk donating a colossal sum to Nigel Farage’s party, Reform UK, has understandably raised alarm bells about the broader implications of outside money pouring into British politics.
Estimates of up to £78 million (over $100 million) for a single donation are staggering. Yet, the recent focus on Musk’s high-profile potential contribution may obscure the reality that numerous smaller, less publicized donations, sometimes channeled through obscure or shell companies, have already been influencing policy directions in Westminster – including the UK’s stance towards Russia and Ukraine.
Santa Claus is the symbol of Christmas, his red suit and white beard a global icon, but each country has its own unique name and tradition for the figure who spreads joy and delivers gifts worldwide.
USA: Santa Claus
The name “Santa Claus” originates from the Dutch “Sinterklaas,” a variation of St. Nicholas. The modern American image of Santa began to take shape in the 19th century, thanks to Clement Clarke Moore’s famous poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” It was here that Santa first appeared as a jolly, plump man bearing a sack full of gifts.
It has become a tradition on high days and holidays for the statues of the children that represent the founders of Kyiv to be dressed in appropriate costumes.
Kyivans have begun a tradition of marking holidays by dressing up the sculptures of the four children on Poshtova (Post Office) Square on the edge of the historical Podil district on special days. The statues which represent the founders of Kyiv – the brothers Kyi, Shchek, and Khoryv with their sister Lybid sitting on a nearby bench, were positioned in and around the fountain on the newly refurbished square in 2017.
This year’s motif sees the Kyi, Khoryv and Lybid dressed in traditional Ukrainian costumes, while Shchek, is dressed in a military uniform bearing the badges of the units in which the brothers of the makers of the sculptures serve.
Kyiv Post was able to see how preparations to celebrate did not stand in the way of saving lives in a visit to a front-line medical stabilization point in eastern Ukraine.
A female military cook whose unusual hairstyle and large glasses - which really suited her call sign of “Owl” – prepares her version of traditional Ukrainian Christmas dishes: kutia made from wheat grains and nuts in syrup, dumplings with potatoes and mushroom gravy, meat, salads, uzvar made from dried pears, citrus fruits, and apples, as well as sweets.
This is how the medics of the 12th Azov Brigade of the National Guard celebrated Christmas on the frontline, with the line of contact is just a few kilometers away.
“What?! There’s no such thing as Santa Clause! All the gifts you ever got were from your dad and me, not some make-believe character in a cartoon!”
On Christmas Day as a boy, I always woke up before my parents, trying to wrangle them out of bed before sunrise. I got up one Christmas morning at about 5:30 am when I was six years old, almost 7; my birthday is in early January. My mom had been up until about 3 a.m. making cinnamon rolls for the holiday morning. She was always up late on Christmas Eve.
I was the second-wave family for my parents. My sister and brother were already out of the house when I came along. They each had an oldest child less than two years younger than me.
Zelensky promises to seek peace in 2025; Ukrainian families celebrate Christmas at the cemetery; and inside the war-time legacy of ‘Shchedryk’ and ‘Carol of the Bells,’ from Pokrovsk to the world.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tells religious leaders that peace is on the agenda for 2025, as Ukrainians across the country celebrate Christmas for the second year on Dec. 25 after policymakers voted to change the official date last year in a snub to Russia. Cemeteries were full over the holiday as families sought to visit loved ones lost in the war, and the cultural diplomacy of Ukraine’s famed ‘Shchedryk’ and ‘Carol of the Bells’ remains strong.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a call with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on Christmas Eve to assure the religious leader that Ukraine is working toward making 2025 a peaceful year for Ukraine and the world as a whole.
In war-torn Vovchansk, Father Igor leads a dwindling congregation in prayer, embodying resilience and faith as they cope with loss and destruction from relentless Russian shelling.
Vovchansk’s copper-domed basilica was always packed at feasts like Easter, with worshippers overflowing out into the Ukrainian city’s central square.
But Father Igor Klymenko’s displaced congregation – forced from their homes by a Russian onslaught that has pounded their border city to dust – was reduced to just nine on the autumn morning AFP caught up with them in the nearest big city, Kharkiv.
