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Published On 25 Dec 2025<\/span>25 Dec 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Here is where things stand on Thursday, December 25:<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"fighting\">Fighting<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"spaced-bullet-spacing\">\n<li>An explosion in Moscow killed three people, including two police officers, just days after a car bomb killed a high-ranking Russian general in the same area of the capital.<\/li>\n<li>An official from Ukraine\u2019s military intelligence, known as GUR, told The Associated Press news agency that the attack had been carried out as part of a Ukrainian operation and the two police officers were targeted for taking part in Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine.<\/li>\n<li>\u200dRussian air \u200ddefence units downed 16 Ukrainian drones en route to Moscow throughout Wednesday, the capital\u2019s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.<\/li>\n<li>Sobyanin said the drones were repelled \u200bover a period of about 17 hours, and emergency \u200dcrews were examining fragments where the drones hit the ground, but no damage was reported.<\/li>\n<li>Two of four major airports \u200dservicing Moscow were forced to limit operations for a time due to the drone attacks, Russia\u2019s civil aviation authority said on Telegram.<\/li>\n<li>Russia\u2019s Ministry of Defence said its aerial defence units destroyed 172 Ukrainian drones overnight, nearly half of them over regions bordering Ukraine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"spaced-bullet-spacing\">\n<li>Ukraine said its drones \u200bhad struck the Yefremov synthetic rubber plant \u200cin Russia\u2019s Tula region, south of Moscow, and a storage facility for marine drones in Russian-occupied Crimea.<\/li>\n<li>Tula regional governor, Dmitry Milyaev, said \u200cdebris from a downed Ukrainian drone ignited a fire at an industrial \u200csite, and Russian air defence units destroyed 12 Ukrainian drones over the region.<\/li>\n<li>A sunflower oil spill, caused by Russian aerial bombardments, has contaminated the shoreline around the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, killing wildlife and triggering warnings from conservationists, the AFP news agency reports.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThe cause was damage to sunflower oil tanks as a result of massive enemy attacks on port infrastructure, causing some of the oil to spill,\u201d Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said in a statement. The Pivdenny port in the region was temporarily closed on Wednesday to help with the cleanup.<\/li>\n<li>A Russian-backed court in occupied Ukraine sentenced a Colombian man to 19 years in prison for fighting for Kyiv\u2019s army.<\/li>\n<li>Russia\u2019s Prosecutor General said the Supreme Court in the Russian-controlled area of Ukraine\u2019s Donetsk region sentenced Oscar Mauricio Blanco Lopez, 42, to 19 years in jail. The Colombian arrived in Ukraine in May 2024 to sign up with the Ukrainian army and had been \u201ctaken prisoner by Russian servicemen\u201d in December 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"ceasefire-talks\">Ceasefire talks<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"spaced-bullet-spacing\">\n<li>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed for the first time details of an agreement between the United States and Ukrainian negotiators on ending the war with Russia. The 20-point plan, agreed on by US and Ukrainian negotiators after marathon talks, is now being reviewed by Moscow.<\/li>\n<li>As part of the plan, President Zelenskyy said Ukraine would be willing to withdraw troops from the country\u2019s eastern industrial heartland if Moscow also pulled back and the area becomes a demilitarised zone monitored by international forces.<\/li>\n<li>A similar arrangement could be possible for the area around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently under Russian control, Zelenskyy said. The Ukrainian leader said that any peace plan would need to be put to a referendum in Ukraine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"spaced-bullet-spacing\">\n<li>Asked about the latest development in ceasefire talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would decide its position based on information received by Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who met with US envoys in Florida over the weekend.<\/li>\n<li>Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized in Ukraine. Moscow has also insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70 percent of Donetsk \u2013 the two areas that make up the Donbas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"politics-and-diplomacy\">Politics and diplomacy<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"spaced-bullet-spacing\">\n<li>A majority of Russians expect the war in Ukraine to end in 2026, Russia\u2019s state pollster VTsIOM said, in a sign that the Kremlin could be testing public reaction to a possible peace settlement as diplomatic efforts \u2060to end the conflict intensify.<\/li>\n<li>During the pollster\u2019s year-end presentation, VTsIOM Deputy Head Mikhail Mamonov said 70 percent of the 1,600 respondents \u200bsaw 2026 as a more \u201csuccessful\u201d year for Russia than 2025, while for 55 percent that hope \u200dwas linked to a possible end to Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine.<\/li>\n<li>A Russian court has scheduled the first public hearing in a criminal case against German sculptor Jacques Tilly, who is accused of discrediting the Russian military through his satirical Carnival floats depicting Russia\u2019s President Vladimir Putin.<\/li>\n<li>The court in Moscow said the trial will begin on December 30 and proceedings will be held in absentia, as Tilly \u2013 who faces up to 10 years in jail or a fine \u2013 is not in Russia.<\/li>\n<li>Zelenskyy said in his Christmas address on Wednesday that despite marking the holiday at a \u201cdifficult\u201d time, the nation\u2019s unity remains intact. \u201cUkrainians are together tonight,\u201d Zelenskyy said, adding the country had \u201cwithout a doubt\u201d been changed by the war. \u201cIt hardly matters what dishes are on the table \u2013 what matters is who is at the table,\u201d he said.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4194468\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4194468\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4194468\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2025-12-24T191203Z_1672609861_RC2TMIAOXQBL_RTRMADP_3_UKRAINE-CRISIS-DNIPROPETROVSK-REGION-1766604585.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C524&quality=80\" alt=\"Artillerymen of the 44th Separate Artillery Brigade in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4194468\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artillerymen of the 44th Separate Artillery Brigade fire a M777 Howitzer towards Russian troops, amid Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine, in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, on December 24, 2025 [Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"regional-security\">Regional security<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"spaced-bullet-spacing\">\n<li>France\u2019s \u200dPresident Emmanuel Macron said he spoke \u2060with NATO \u200bchief Mark Rutte to \u200ddiscuss the situation in Ukraine and \u200dthe work undertaken \u2060by the \u201ccoalition of the willing\u201d. \u201cStarting in January in Paris, we \u200bwill \u200ccontinue the work begun within this framework to provide \u200cUkraine with solid security \u200cguarantees, a \u2060prerequisite for a robust and lasting peace,\u201d Macron \u200csaid on social media.<\/li>\n<li>Democratic senators in the US have urged President \u200dDonald Trump to \u200dreverse a recall of nearly 30 career ambassadors, warning the move leaves a dangerous leadership vacuum that allows adversaries like Russia and China to expand their influence. The Trump administration in recent days has ordered career diplomats serving across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America back to Washington to ensure US missions abroad reflect its \u201cAmerica First\u201d priorities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"economics\">Economics<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"spaced-bullet-spacing\">\n<li>Kazakhstan\u2019s exports of its flagship CPC Blend of oil will be their lowest in 14 months in December, as bad weather delays efforts to repair Russian loading infrastructure after Ukrainian drone strikes last month, two sources told the Reuters news agency.<\/li>\n<li>On November 29, Ukrainian drones hit the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal located near \u200dRussia\u2019s Black Sea port \u2060of Novorossiysk, leaving just one out of three jetties operational and prolonging export delays. Poor weather has added to the difficulty of carrying out maintenance work necessary to allow exports to recover.<\/li>\n<li>Ukraine\u2019s Ministry of Finance said \u200dit \u200dcompleted the settlement of a deal to restructure $2.6bn of growth-linked debt.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>These are the key developments from day 1,400 of Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine. Published On 25 Dec 202525 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here is where things stand on Thursday, December 25: Fighting An explosion in Moscow killed three people, including two police officers, just days after a car […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}