Christmas Morning Chaos: Ukraine and Russia's Drone War Escalates

In a night of relentless attacks, Ukraine and Russia hurled drones at each other, turning Christmas morning into a grim scene. Russia sent 131 drones Ukraine's way, but not all made it through. Ukraine's air force managed to take down or disable 106 of them. Still, 22 drones hit 15 different spots, causing damage and casualties. The southern city of Odesa took a hard hit. Governor Oleh Kiper reported that Russia aimed for the port and industrial areas, damaging buildings and killing at least one person. Two others were hurt in the attack. Meanwhile, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said one person was killed and 14 were injured in a series of Russian strikes. The city of Chernihiv wasn't spared either. A drone struck a high-rise apartment building, and several energy infrastructure targets were also hit. Governor Viacheslav Chaus confirmed that two people were killed and two more were injured in Chernihiv. The attacks caused power outages in several regions, including Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Odesa. To manage the damage, Ukraine enforced power consumption restrictions throughout the day.Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba criticized Russia's actions, stating that even during the Christmas holidays, Russia continued to target Ukrainian logistics, ports, and critical infrastructure. Meanwhile, Russia claimed it shot down 141 drones, with nine of them falling over the Moscow region. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported that emergency services were working to clean up the debris. The western Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, saw one person hospitalized after being injured by shrapnel from a drone attack. An apartment building was also destroyed. In southern Russia's Krasnodar Krai, the port of Temryuk was attacked, causing two tanks of petroleum products to catch fire. Temporary flight restrictions were put in place at airports in Krasnodar and Yaroslavl to ensure safety. The night's strikes came after multiple waves of Ukrainian drones were launched into Russia the day before. Russia's Defense Ministry reported shooting down at least 387 Ukrainian drones in a single day, the highest number reported since the war began. This included more than a dozen drones over the Moscow region.