A first responder fights a fire set by Russian strikes on Kyiv, Ukraine, December 27, 2025

Monday’s Coverage: UK Developing Deep-Strike Missile for Kyiv

UPDATE 0852 GMT:

A “Western security official” says Iran sold $2.7 billion of ballistic and anti-aircraft missiles to Russia under a contract signed in October 2021.

The official told Bloomberg that the sale included hundreds of Fath-360 short-range ballistic missiles, almost 500 other short-range ballistic missiles, and around 200 surface-to-air missiles for air defense systems. Tehran also supplied millions of ammunition and artillery shells. It delivered Shahed-136 kamikaze drones and the technology to manufacture them in Russia under the name Geran-2.

Overall, Russia has spent more $4 billion on Iranian weapons since the end of 2021 and expects additional shipments in the near future, a source said.

In January 2025, the countries signed a strategic partnership agreement, but the document does not include mutual defense obligations.

UPDATE 0844 GMT:

Russia’s Belgorod region was still struggling without power, heating, and water amid sub-zero temperatures on Monday.

A Ukrainian strike last Friday triggered the worst blackout since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine almost four years ago.

More than half a million people lost electricity and heating. Around 200,000 residents were left without water, and mobile communications were disrupted in some districts.

“Everyone I know has been affected, in one way or another, by the electricity, heating and water outages,” a Belgorod city resident told The Moscow Times. “There’s a sense of panic to some extent. People are scared because nothing like this has ever happened before.”

“It’s already the fourth day since the shelling and there’s still no water [in our district]….When will we finally get water?” resident Natalia Simanova wrote on the VKontakte social platform.

Resident Irina Sokolova complained, “There has been no electricity since Jan. 9. [The electricity grid operator] Rosseti is carrying out repairs — thank you for that — but people here rely on electric boilers for heating. What are residents supposed to do if their heating systems freeze?”

UPDATE 0836 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has commented on the latest Russian strikes:

As always, wherever Russia tries to destroy, Ukrainians support one another, and internal resilience is what is most needed right now.

Every such strike against life is a reminder that support for Ukraine cannot be stopped. Missiles for air defense systems are needed every day, and especially during winter. The world can respond to this Russian terror with new assistance packages for Ukraine. We expect the acceleration of deliveries already agreed with America and Europe. Russia must come to learn that cold will not help it win the war.

Anton Gerashchenko, former advisor to the Interior Minister, posts:

UPDATE 0833 GMT:

Two civilians have been murdered and three injured by Russian attacks on the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine over the past 24 hours.

UPDATE 0758 GMT:

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reports that last year was the deadliest for civilians since 2022.

Conflict-related violence in Ukraine killed 2,514 civilians and injured 12,142, a 31% rise in victims from 2024.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Russia launched missile and drone strikes across Ukraine overnight, including on Kyiv and the second city Kharkiv.

At least four civilians were murdered and six wounded on the outskirts of Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine.

Emergency responders were targets as they put out fires and evacuated the injured at the severely-damaged terminal of Nova Poshta, Ukraine’s largest private delivery company.

A children’s medical facility in Kharkiv city was set ablaze.

Infrastructure in the Odesa and Zaporizhzhia regions was also attacked. In Odesa city, at least five people were injured as residential buildings, a hospital, and a kindergarten were damaged.

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said equipment at a thermal power plant was damaged. The assault was the eighth on DTEK’s plants since October.

Ballistic missile explosions shook Kyiv at around 1:10 a.m. Additional blasts were heard around 8:30 a.m. The suburbs of Bucha, Hostomel, and Irpin were left without power and running water. Emergency power outages have been implemented in Kyiv and other areas of the region.

Kyiv was still recovering from last Friday’s Russian mass attack, which murdered four civilians and injured 24. As of Tuesday, around 800 apartment blocks were still without power amid freezing temperatures.

“Maybe this wasn’t the worst attack, but this is the worst impact we’ve seen. Compared to all previous winters, the situation now is the worst,” said Olena Pavlenko, the president of the Kyiv-based energy-focused think tank DiXi Group.

Russia also bombed two more civilian ships transporting food products in the Black Sea near the Chornomorsk port in the Odesa region.

Ukraine Minister of Regional Development Oleksiy Kuleba summarized:

An enemy drone struck a Panamanian-flagged tanker that was waiting to enter port to load vegetable oil. Unfortunately, one crew member was wounded.

There was also an attack on a ship flying the flag of San Marino, which was leaving the port with a cargo of corn….

This is further proof that Russia is deliberately attacking civilian ships, international trade and maritime safety.