Ukraine drone attack sparks fire at industrial site in Russia’s Tula
Debris from a downed Ukrainian drone sparked a fire at an industrial site in Russia’s Tula region, its governor Dmitry Milyaev said on his Telegram channel this morning.
Milyaev did not give details about the industrial facility.
He said that Russian air defence units destroyed at least 12 Ukrainian drones over the region.
Arpan Rai24 December 2025 04:59
Explosions heard in southern Moscow at site of general’s killing
Several explosions were heard in southern Moscow today at the site where Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov was killed by a car bomb on Monday, Baza and SHOT Telegram channels reported.
Witnesses told the channels, which have sources in Russia’s law enforcement agencies, that a car was detonated.
At least two people were seriously injured in the explosions which took place near a police station, SHOT, Baza and other unofficial Russian Telegram news channels reported.
Sarvarov was killed on Monday when a bomb exploded under his Kia Sorento as he left a parking space in southern Moscow, Russian investigators said, adding they were looking at possible involvement by Ukrainian special services.
Arpan Rai24 December 2025 04:13
Russia claims control over villages in Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk
Russia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday that its troops had captured the settlements of Prylipka in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and Andriivka in Dnipropetrovsk region.
Russian forces also struck energy and military facilities with Kinzhal missiles, the ministry added.
The Independent could not independently verify the reports of gains on the battlefield.
Alex Croft24 December 2025 04:00
WhatsApp calls out Russia’s attempt to restrict private communications
WhatsApp criticised restrictions to its service in Russia yesterday, accusing the authorities of trying to deprive more than 100 million Russians of the right to private communications before the holiday season.
Thousands of Russians complained about outages and slowdowns yesterday, monitoring websites showed.
“In restricting access to WhatsApp, the Russian government aims to take away the right to private, end-to-end encrypted communication from over 100 million people, right before the holiday season in Russia,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said.
“WhatsApp is deeply embedded in the fabric of every community in the country – from parent and workplace groups to friends, neighborhood, and extended family chats across Russian regions. We’re committed to fighting for our users because forcing people onto less secure and government-mandated apps can only lead to less safety for Russian people,” the messaging and video calling app’s spokesperson said.
WhatsApp’s statement followed a repeat warning by Russia’s communications regulator that it would completely block WhatsApp if it did not comply with its demands to bring its services into line with Russian law.
“WhatsApp continues to violate Russian law. The messenger is used to organise and carry out terrorist acts on the territory of the country, to recruit their perpetrators and to commit fraud and other crimes against our citizens,” Roskomnadzor, the regulator, told Russian state media.
It said it was taking measures to gradually restrict WhatsApp as a result
Arpan Rai24 December 2025 03:33
Ukrainian troops withdraw from eastern town of Siversk
Ukrainian forces have pulled out of the embattled eastern town of Siversk near Bakhmut, Kyiv’s military said.
“The invaders were able to advance due to a significant numerical advantage and constant pressure from small assault groups in difficult weather conditions,” Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement.
It said it had withdrawn soldiers to preserve lives and resources, adding that they had, however, inflicted heavy losses on the enemy.
Russia said earlier this month it had captured Siversk, whose pre-war population was around 10,000, a claim Kyiv had denied.
Arpan Rai24 December 2025 03:13
Pope Leo expresses ‘much sadness’ about Russia refusing Christmas ceasefire
Pope Leo said he feels “much sadness” that Russia did not agree to a Christmas ceasefire in its war on Ukraine.
“Among the things that cause me much sadness is that apparently Russia has refused a ceasefire request,” the pope told journalists outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy.
“I will make an appeal one more time to people of good will to respect at least Christmas day as a day of peace,” he said.
“Maybe they will listen to us and there will be at least 24 hours, a day of peace, across the world.” the pope said.
Pope Leo XIV delivers the Angelus noon prayer in St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican (AP)
Arpan Rai24 December 2025 02:59
Zelensky says draft documents have been prepared after US-Ukraine talks
Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that several draft documents, including on security guarantees, had been prepared after Ukrainian officials held talks in Miami with US counterparts on ending Russia’s war.
“They worked productively with envoys of President Trump and several draft documents have now been prepared,” the Ukrainian president wrote on X.
“In particular, these include documents on security guarantees for Ukraine, on recovery, and on a basic framework for ending this war.”
Alex Croft24 December 2025 02:01
Russian authorities extinguish fire at Krasnodar port oil pipeline
Local authorities in Russia’s Krasnodar region said on Tuesday that a fire at the fuel oil supply pipeline at the port of Taman had been extinguished.
It comes after a fire on an oil tanker and a pier, caused by a drone attack, was also extinguished on Monday, local authorities said.
Alex Croft24 December 2025 01:00
Zelensky urges US to push Russia for an answer as peace talks continueZelensky urges US to push Russia for an answer as peace talks continue
Alex Croft24 December 2025 00:01
Kremlin says weekend Ukraine peace talks did not produce breakthrough
The latest dialogue between Russian and the US officials in Miami on the war in Ukraine should not be seen as a breakthrough, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
Calling it a “working process”, Vladimir Putin’s close aide said the discussions were expected to continue in a “meticulous” expert-level format and that Russia’s priority was to obtain from the United States details of Washington’s work with Europeans and Ukrainians on a possible settlement.
He said Moscow would then judge how far those ideas matched what he called the “spirit of Anchorage”.
Earlier, Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said the talks were “productive and constructive”.
Alex Croft23 December 2025 23:02