December 23, 2025 – Kyiv / Warsaw – Russia launched a series of missile and drone attacks across multiple regions of Ukraine on Tuesday, killing at least three people, including a four-year-old child, and triggering widespread emergency power outages during one of the harshest winter periods in the country. The strikes coincided with United States-led peace talks in Miami aimed at ending the nearly four-year war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attacks, describing them as a signal of Russia’s priorities while calling on Western partners to increase pressure on Moscow. “This Russian strike sends an extremely clear signal about Russia’s priorities,” Zelenskyy said, emphasizing that the strikes occurred “in the midst of negotiations aimed at ending this war.”

Casualties and Damage

• A four-year-old child was killed in the Zhytomyr region.
• A woman in the Kyiv region and another person in Khmelnytskyi also lost their lives.
• Fires broke out in several regions due to the attacks, prompting Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s national power operator, to impose emergency power outages to stabilize the electrical grid.
• In Kyiv, debris from explosions damaged windows in residential buildings in the Sviatoshynskyi district.
• In Odesa, strikes sparked fires at a port and a cargo vessel, though no injuries were reported.

Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said Ukraine’s western energy infrastructure suffered the most damage from dozens of missiles and over 600 drones launched by Russian forces.

Poland Scrambles Jets

As a precaution, Polish and NATO aircraft were deployed to secure airspace after Russian strikes hit areas near the western Ukrainian border. Poland’s operational command described the measures as “preventive in nature and aimed at securing and protecting the airspace.”

Context: Ongoing Peace Talks

The attacks occurred amid US-mediated negotiations in Miami, where envoys of President Donald Trump – Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – met separately with Ukrainian and Russian delegations. Zelenskyy indicated that 90% of Ukraine’s demands had been included in revised ceasefire proposals, though Russia signaled slow progress.

Despite diplomatic efforts, no breakthrough was achieved. The Ukrainian military continues to carry out strategic strikes on Russian assets, including oil terminals, pipelines, jets, and ships. A recent car bomb in southern Moscow killed a senior Russian general, an incident Russian investigators suspect may be linked to Ukrainian special forces.

Strategic Impact

The strikes aim to disrupt Ukraine’s energy and infrastructure during the winter months, putting additional pressure on civilians and the military. Ukrainian forces remain outnumbered, yet continue efforts to resist Russian advances and target strategic installations behind the front lines.