At least five civilians were killed after Russian attacks on southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, said Ukrainian officials. Meanwhile, Russian-installed officials in the eastern town of Horlivka said one person was killed after Ukrainian shelling.
The Ukrainian army, on Monday (Dec 25) also claimed to have shot down 28 out of the 31 drones fired by Russia and destroyed two missiles mostly targeting the south of the country. The war-torn country is also in the midst of celebrating Christmas on December 25 for the first time in over a century.
Attacks in Kherson and Horlivka
The deaths in the Ukrainian region follow incessant Russian shelling of Kherson city and the region over the preceding 24 hours, according to local officials. Reuters citing regional police said three people died in the shelling of an apartment building and a private home in Kherson city.
Additionally, a woman died in a drone attack in a small town south of Kherson and a second woman was killed when a town further north came under heavy fire. The attacks also partially cut gas and water supplies as well as hit a medical facility.
“The windows were broken, the building was damaged,” Oleksandr Tolokonnikov from Kherson’s regional military administration told the Ukrainian public broadcaster.
Around 600 kilometres northeast of Kherson in the town of Horlivka, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region under Russian control, one woman was killed and six others were injured following Ukrainian shelling, said a Russian-installed official.
Mayor of Horlivka, Ivan Prikhodko, in a post on Telegram, also said that the shelling destroyed a shopping centre and several other buildings.
Ukraine downs barrage of drones fired by Russia
According to the Ukrainian military, Russia launched 31 drones from Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
“As a result of air combat, the Ukrainian Air Force and defence forces destroyed 28 Shahed attack drones in Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Donetsk, Kirovohrad and Khmelnytskyi regions,” said Ukrainian Air Forces in a post on Telegram.
Debris from the downed drones damaged technical facilities in the Odesa port as well as an “inoperable administrative building and a warehouse,” said the Ukrainian forces.
The attack, according to the military, also led to a fire in a warehouse in the Kherson region. “No people were injured,” it added.
Moscow ‘will be defeated’
In what is being seen as a snub to Russia, Ukraine has decided to officially celebrate Christmas on December 25 this year. It will be the first time in over a century that Ukrainians will observe the festival in line with the Gregorian calendar and along with most of the world’s Christians.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed his nation on Sunday (Dec 24), Christmas Eve with a message of encouragement amid the ongoing war with Russia.
“In the end, darkness will lose. Evil will be defeated,” the Ukrainian president said in a video message reportedly recorded in front of Kyiv’s famous Pechersk Lavra monastery complex.
The whole country would pray together during the holidays “for our freedom. For our victory. For our Ukraine,” said Zelensky.
Like Russia, Ukraine has also been observing the holiday on January 7, following the old Julian calendar. However, a bill making the date change was passed in July and later signed by the Ukrainian president.
Zelensky noted this change allows Ukrainians to “abandon the Russian heritage of imposing Christmas celebrations on January 7.”
Ukraine received $1.34 billion under World Bank plan
Kyiv received $1.34 billion under the World Bank’s public expenditures for administrative capacity endurance in Ukraine, said the Ukrainian finance ministry, on Monday (Dec 25).
The financing consisted of a $1.086 billion loan from the World Bank, $190 million grant from Norway, $50 million grant from the United States and $20 million grant from Switzerland, said the ministry.
The funds, in part, will be used for non-security and defence-related expenditures like old-age social payments.
“International financial assistance is a significant contribution to maintaining Ukraine’s financial and economic stability and allows us to provide priority social expenditures during the war,” said Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko.
(With inputs from agencies)
