‘These accusations are unfounded,’ Kremlin official tells Russian media. This blog is now closed

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Moscow’s aerial bombardment of Ukraine has left 32 dead, AP reports.

At least 144 people were wounded and an unknown number buried under rubble in the assault, which damaged a maternity hospital, apartment blocks, and schools.

At least 30 killed and 160 wounded across Ukraine in what Kyiv calls biggest Russian air attack of war; Poland claims Russian missile entered its airspace

Russia launched a huge wave of missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, including the capital, in what Ukraine’s defence minister called the biggest air attack of the war. At least 30 civilians were killed and 160 injured in the strikes on residential buildings in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv and other cities in the west and south on Friday morning. A shopping centre and maternity hospital were hit in the central city of Dnipro, Ukrainian officials said. In Odesa, three people were killed and another 26 injured, including two children and a pregnant woman, when three rockets hit residential buildings. Rescue operations were continuing in the cities.

The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 87 cruise missiles and 27 drones of a total 158 aerial “targets” fired by Russia. Kyiv’s defence minister, Rustem Umerov, said it was the “most massive air attack of this war”, which began in February 2022, and involved 18 strategic bombers. The army chief, Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said infrastructure and industrial and military facilities had been targeted.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia launched about 110 missiles in the attack. “Today, Russia used nearly every type of weapon in its arsenal,” the Ukrainian president said on social media. “Russian terror must and will lose.”

Poland’s armed forces said an unknown airborne object, which they identified as a Russian missile, entered the country’s airspace from the direction of Ukraine for less than three minutes. “It was monitored by us on radars and left the airspace,” said Poland’s defence chief, Gen Wiesław Kukuła. The object penetrated about 40km (25 miles), Poland said, adding that Nato radar also confirmed the object left Polish airspace. The Russian charge d’affaires, summoned to the Polish foreign ministry, said Warsaw had provided no evidence of a missile entering its airspace.

At a hastily convened meeting of the UN security council, most council members – including the US, France and Britain – condemned the attacks. “Tragically, 2023 is ending as it began, with devastating violence against the people of Ukraine,” UN assistant secretary general Khaled Khiari said after briefing the council on the attacks.

Britain will send about 200 air-defence missiles to Ukraine after the Russian strikes, the UK defence minister said on Friday. Grant Shapps posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Britain was “moving rapidly to bolster Ukraine’s air defence in the wake of Putin’s murderous airstrikes”. The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said on social media: “These widespread attacks on Ukraine’s cities show Putin will stop at nothing to achieve his aim of eradicating freedom and democracy.”

A Ukrainian strike on a residential building in the Russian city of Belgorod left one person dead, the regional governor said late on Friday. The attack killed one person and wounded four others, Vyacheslav Gladkov said, adding that the city’s water supply system was damaged. The Russian defence ministry said air defence systems destroyed a total of 13 missiles over the region, which borders Ukraine.

The US president, Joe Biden, demanded Congress “step up” and overcome divisions on sending aid to Ukraine, saying the massive Russian air attack demonstrated that the Kremlin hoped to “obliterate” the pro-western country. Biden said in a statement: “Unless Congress takes urgent action in the new year, we will not be able to continue sending the weapons and vital air defense systems Ukraine needs to protect its people. Congress must step up and act without any further delay.”

Ukrainian officials urged the country’s western allies to provide it with more air defences to protect itself against aerial attacks such as Friday’s. Their appeals have come as signs of war fatigue strain efforts to keep support in place.

Russia has suffered huge human and material losses in Ukraine and its army will emerge weakened from the conflict, a senior German military figure said in an interview published on Friday. Christian Freuding, who oversees the German army’s support for Kyiv, said: “The Russian armed forces will emerge from this war weakened, both materially and in terms of personnel.”

Poland’s defence chief says unidentified object entered airspace on Friday then disappeared from radar. This live blog is closed

• Poland reports airspace incursion as Russia launches huge strike on Ukraine

The US ambassador to Ukraine has shared a picture of her phone screen showing a number of critical air raid alert messages.

Bridget Brink said in a post on X:

This is what Ukrainians see on their phones this morning: and as a result, millions of men, women, and children are in bomb shelters as Russia fires missiles across the country.

Bulk carrier hit by Russian mine in Black Sea; Zelenskiy thanks US for latest weapons package amid uncertainty over future aid

Artyom Kamardin, 33, got seven years after attending anti-Ukraine war protest and Yegor Shtovba, 23, was given five and a half

A Moscow court on Thursday sentenced two men to years in prison for taking part in the recital of verses against the Ukraine campaign during an anti-mobilisation protest last year.

Artyom Kamardin, 33, received a seven-year sentence for reciting a poem, and Yegor Shtovba, 23, was sentenced to five and a half years for attending the protest. The two were seen behind a glass partition in a heavily guarded courtroom.

The party has triggered outrage from conservative politicians and supporters of the war in Ukraine

A raunchy celebrity-studded party in Moscow has prompted outrage among Russian politicians and law enforcement agencies, in one of the starkest examples to date of how Vladimir Putin is moving the country in a conservative and anti-liberal direction.

The party, which took place on 20 December, was a dress-up ball held at a Moscow nightclub with the theme “almost naked”, and was organised by the popular Instagram influencer Anastasia Ivleeva and attended by a number of household celebrity names who have stayed in the country since Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Head of Ukraine’s armed forces calls for ‘different war’ in 2024; stop Putin or all of Europe at risk, says Moldova president

The US government has announced the release of what it said was its last available package of weapons available for Ukraine, with Congress needing to decide on future support. According to the state department, it is worth up to $250m and includes air defence munitions and components, Himars ammunition, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, anti-armour munitions, and over 15m rounds of ammunition.

The war in 2024 “must be different from 2023”, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces has said. “Otherwise we will face what I wrote about in the article [the Economist]”, said Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi. “Unfortunately, I must state that the enemy is not far behind us. In recent days, we have had a powerful confrontation applying modern technologies. But we do not spare efforts. My main mistake was that I thought that the amount of losses we inflicted on the enemy would stop anyone. But not the Russian Federation.”

Zaluzhnyi, giving a press conference, said Ukrainian troops remained on a defensive line in the northern part of Maryinka. “But I can say that this settlement no longer exists. The [Russian] method is the same as it was in Bakhmut. Street by street, block by block are destroyed. The fact that we have now moved to the outskirts of Maryinka, and in some places equipped positions beyond Maryinka, seems to me to be nothing that can cause a public outcry.”

“As for the conduct of hostilities around Avdiivka,” he continued, “there is no need to dwell on it and make a show of it. The conduct of hostilities is subject to the laws of war, and they are not subject to what politicians or journalists want. The enemy now has the opportunity to concentrate forces; they can do to the city in two or three months what they have done to Bakhmut.”

Two people were killed in Russian drone attacks on Odesa, according to figures from the Odesa oblast governor, Oleh Kiper. A 17-year-old was among the wounded and remained in hospital.

Russian shelling left 70% of Kherson without electricity, said the Kherson oblast governor, Oleksandr Prokudin. Shelling by Russian forces on Tuesday had “badly damaged” the infrastructure of the city, he said, adding that it was “difficult” to say when repairs would be completed. A railway station was attacked as a train was set to evacuate residents, killing one police officer and injuring four people.

A Russian politician calling for peace in Ukraine has been denied the chance to run for president. Russia’s central election commission refused to accept the former regional legislator Yekaterina Duntsova’s initial nomination by a group of supporters, citing errors in the paperwork, including spelling. After losing Wednesday’s appeal against the commission’s decision, Duntsova said she would start working on the creation of her own political party that would stand for “peace, freedom and democracy”.

Poland is getting closer to ending the truck driver blockades of several border crossings with Ukraine, says the country’s prime minister, Donald Tusk. Polish drivers have been blocking several crossings with Ukraine since 6 November, demanding the EU reinstate a system whereby Ukrainian companies need permits and the same for European truckers to enter Ukraine.

The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, held talks in Moscow with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and said progress had been made on plans for Russia and India to jointly produce military equipment. Jaishankar added that he expected Vladimir Putin and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, to meet next year.

Russia says its newest howitzers will be deployed “soon” against Ukrainian forces. The head of the state-owned defence conglomerate Rostec, Sergei Chemezov, told the RIA news agency that testing of the new self-propelled artillery units, named Coalition-SV, had been completed and mass production had started, with the pilot batch to be delivered by the end of this year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin must be stopped in his war against Ukraine or all of Europe will pay a much higher price, Moldova’s pro-European president, Maia Sandu, said in an interview published on Wednesday.

Russian shelling of Kherson train station kills policeman during evacuation effort; Turkey takes another step towards letting Sweden into Nato

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Russian forces shelled the railway station in Kherson as a train was set to evacuate residents, killing one policeman and injuring four people, said Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko.

The commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said his troops remained in part of Maryinka despite Russia’s defence minister saying Russian troops were in total control. Little remains of the town.

The Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee has approved Sweden’s bid for Nato membership but it still needs to pass a full vote of the parliament.

The Ukrainian air force said it struck Russia’s Novocherkassk navy ship during an air attack on Feodosia in Crimea, controlled by Russia. Ukraine said the ship was destroyed while Russia said it was damaged. Footage and photographs showed powerful explosions, fires over a port area, and burnt wreckage.

The Ukrainian army chief, Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said he was not satisfied with the work of military draft offices responsible for mobilising troops. His comments came a day after Ukraine’s parliament published the text of a draft law including lowering the age of men who can be mobilised to 25 from 27.

Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s defence minister, said he wanted “to express deep gratitude” to the British government “for providing basic training to Ukraine’s combat air pilots”.

Taiwan’s economy ministry said it expanded a list of sanctioned goods for Russia and Belarus. The list includes equipment for making semiconductors, where Taiwan is a world leader, as well as certain chemicals and medicines.

Japan’s Mitsui & Co has decided to pull its employees out of Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. The decision is yet another blow for the project. Fearing the backlash from US sanctions targeting the project, foreign shareholders have suspended their participation.

The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, will hold talks with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, in Moscow on Wednesday, Russia’s foreign ministry has said. The ministers plan to discuss bilateral ties as well as the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

Air force claims to have struck Novocherkassk landing ship as footage shows fires in city of Feodosia

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Ukraine’s military has said it has destroyed a Russian landing ship stationed in the Crimean port city of Feodosia, with video footage showing an extensive fire in the port area.

The air force said it struck the Novocherkassk navy ship, which was stationed in Crimean waters controlled by Russia.

We’ll only get better at shooting you down, Zelenskiy warns Russian pilots; Adviivka facing ‘third wave’ of attacks

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A huge explosion and fireball engulfed part of the Crimean port of Feodosia early on Tuesday morning. Ukraine’s air force commander claimed responsibility on Telegram after videos circulated online of the blast in the Russian-held port. Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk said the Russian landing ship Novocherkassk was hit: “The fleet in Russia is getting smaller and smaller!” An initial fire was followed by a massive secondary explosion.

Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers has submitted to parliament a draft law lowering the age of those who can be mobilised for combat duty to 25 from 27. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, said a week ago that the military had proposed mobilising up to half a million more Ukrainians but it was a “highly sensitive” issue that the military and government would have to discuss.

Russian troops have probably begun a third wave of attacks trying to take Avdiivka, Vitalii Barabash, head of the Avdiivka city military administration, has told Ukrainian TV.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned Russian pilots that Ukraine’s air defence will “only get stronger” after Ukraine said it shot down five Russian jet fighters in the days before Christmas. “In just one evening yesterday, our warriors shot down almost 30 Shahed drones, a few missiles, and two military aircraft. Five in a week. I am grateful to everyone who ensured such a powerful result.”

Ukrainians for the first time observed Christmas on 25 December as a public holiday rather than the later date followed in Russia. The change is a direct consequence of Russia’s invasion. Oksana Poviakel, director of a Ukrainian cultural museum in Kyiv, said: “We are separating ourselves from the neighbour who is currently trying to destroy our state, who is killing our people, destroying our homes, and burning our land.”

The ruler of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said Russia had completed its shipments of nuclear weapons to his country, a move that has raised strong concerns in neighbouring Poland and elsewhere in the region.

Russia’s forces have gained full control of Maryinka, a town in eastern Ukraine, news agencies have cited the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, as saying.

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been located at a penal colony in the Arctic Yamal-Nenets region of northern Russia, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh has confirmed.

The members of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union have signed a free trade agreement with Iran, Russian news agency Tass has reported.

‘All Ukrainians are together,’ president says after government changed date of Orthodox Christmas in snub to Russia

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Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is in a penal colony in the Arctic Yamal-Nenets region of northern Russia, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh has confirmed.

Navalny’s lawyer managed to see him on Monday, Yarmysh was quoted as saying by Reuters.