Russia Fires 650+ Drones, 38 Missiles at Ukraine, Killing 3

Russia launched a massive barrage of more than 650 drones and 38 missiles at Ukraine early Tuesday, striking homes and energy infrastructure across 13 regions and killing at least three civilians, including a 4-year-old child, officials reported. The attack, which extended from nighttime into daylight hours two days before Christmas, caused widespread power outages in freezing temperatures and highlighted the ongoing intensity of the conflict amid fragile peace negotiations.

Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 587 drones and 34 missiles, according to the air force, but the assault still inflicted significant damage. In the northwestern Zhytomyr region, a drone strike killed the child, while a woman died in the Kyiv region and another civilian perished in the western Khmelnytskyi region, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Explosions rocked western cities including Rivne, Ternopil, Lviv and Odesa, where energy facilities, a port, transport hubs, industrial sites and over 120 homes sustained damage, regional head Oleh Kiper reported. Ukraines largest private energy supplier, DTEK, described the strikes on its thermal power plants as the seventh major assault since October, noting...