A building set ablaze by Russian strikes on the Odesa region in southern Ukraine, December 20, 2025

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Friday’s Coverage: 8+ Civilians Murdered, 27 Injured by Russia in Attacks on Odesa Region

UPDATE 1709 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has told journalists that he will support a US proposal for three-way talks with Washington and Moscow if it brings more exchanges of prisoners and paves the way for meetings of national leaders.

Zelensky posted a lengthy message about the state of discussions to end Russia’s invasion:

An agreement is not just about signing a document. One must know the details: what will happen if the Russians come with aggression and launch another war. How will the Americans and Europeans respond? How will our partners respond? What deterrence package will Ukraine have? What will be present on Ukrainian territory? How will our army be equipped? How strong will it be, and what reserves will we have? What can we count on? What sanctions package will be imposed simultaneously on the aggressor?

He added, “It is not up to Putin to decide when or in what format elections in Ukraine will take place, because these elections are exclusively for Ukrainian citizens.”

UPDATE 1700 GMT:

Ukraine and Portugal have established a joint partnership to produce sea drones.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the arrangement on Saturday alongside visiting Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro in Kyiv.

Zelensky highlighted Portugal’s support for Ukrainian communities and its contributions to rebuilding Ukraine’s education infrastructure, including schools in Chernihiv and Cherkasy. He noted Lisbon’s involvement in the €90 billion European Union loan for Kyiv.

Zelensky added a message to Donald Trump’s envoys:

Putin started this war and is dragging it out not only for our Donbas, but to remove people from making decisions about the fate of their countries. Russia will never be satisfied with one or another piece of territory if someone simply gifts it.

UPDATE 1452 GMT:

A total of 202 Indian nationals have been recruited into the Russian army since 2022, with at least 26 killed and 7 missing, says India’s Foreign Ministry.

The Ministry submitted an official report submitted to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s Parliament, on Thursday. It said 50 Indians are still enlisted in the Russian army, and India is “continuously engaged with the Russian side” to secure their early release and repatriation.

The bodies of 10 Indian soldiers have been repatriated, while two others have been cremated locally. DNA samples from family members of 18 individuals reported dead or missing have been sent to Russian authorities to help identify remains.

“The Government of India remains continuously engaged with the Russian side to ensure the safety, well-being, and early discharge of all Indian nationals in the Russian armed forces,” the Ministry said.

Ukrainian officials say Russia has mobilized 18,092 foreigners from 128 countries for its full-scale invasion as of October 2024. North Koreans make up the largest contingent, followed by recruits from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Cuba.

UPDATE 1407 GMT:

At least one civilian was killed and 20 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Ukraine air defenses downed 31 of 51 drones launched by Russia overnight. The other 20, along with three ballistic missiles, hit 15 locations.

The fatality and two of the wounded were in the Donetsk region eastern Ukraine.

Casualties were also reported in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

UPDATE 1354 GMT:

Ukrainian long-range drones have struck two Russian Su-27 fighter jets at the Belbek military airfield in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Belbek, near Sevastopol, is a key Russian hub for deployment of fighter aircraft and positioning of air defense asset.

Ukraine’s State security agency SBU said one of the Su-27s, on a taxiway with a full weapons load and ready for a combat sortie, was destroyed.

The combined cost of the two aircraft is estimated at around $70 million. The airfield’s control tower was struck, which “may complicate the organization and control of flights at the airfield”, said the SBU.

On Thursday, Ukrainian drones destroyed equipment at Belbek worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It included two multi-functional radars; an air defense radar; a Pantsir-S2 air defense system, and a MiG-31 aircraft with a full combat load.

UPDATE 0853 GMT:

Ukrainian drones struck a Russian patrol ship and an oil platform in the Caspian Sea on Friday.

The patrol ship is one of the Rubin class of Russian Coast Guard vessels combatting surface and airborne threats.

The Caspian platform, owned by Russian State company Lukoil, is in the Filanovsky field with estimated reserves of 129 million tons of oil and 30 billion cubic meters of gas.

UPDATE 0738 GMT:

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that he may join talks between Donald Trump’s envoys and top Ukrainian officials on Saturday.

Rustem Umerov, the Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, and other Kyiv officials met the envoys, real estate developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, on Friday near Miami. Officials from the UK, France, and Germany were also present.

Umerov said he is “acting clearly in line with the priorities defined by the President [Volodymyr Zelensky]: security must be guaranteed reliably and in the long term.”

A Russian official confirmed that Vladimir Putin’s top economic advisor Kirill Dmitriev is also heading to Miami to meet Witkoff and Kushner.

In late October, Dmitriev collaborated with the two envoys on a 28-point ultimatum to Kyiv to surrender territory and accept political and military weakness. Ukraine’s European partners pushed back the demands with a counter-proposal.

The Russian officials said there will be no meeting between Dmitriev and the Ukrainian negotiators.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: At least eight civilians were murdered and 27 wounded by Russian attacks on the Odesa region in southern Ukraine late Friday.

The Russians struck the Black Sea port of Pivdennyi in their latest assault on infrastructure in the region. The explosions began around 9 p.m., minutes after the Ukraine Air Force warned of incoming ballistic missiles.

Some of the victims were on a bus that was hit. Cargo trucks in a parking lot were destroyed, and cars were set afire.

On Thursday and early Friday, power was cut to more than 73,000 residents because of damage to energy facilities. A woman was killed and her three children wounded by a drone strike on their car.

Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said officials are conferring with Moldova’s authorities to find alternative routes so trucks and passengers can cross the border safely. Temporary camps have been set up in Moldova at border crossings to provide shelter and food for travellers en route to Ukraine.