Overview
- Ukraine’s General Staff reported 131 combat engagements on December 31, with the heaviest fighting on the Pokrovsk axis where defenders repelled 33 assaults alongside attacks near Kostiantynivka, Oleksandrivka and Huliaipole.
- Grid operator Ukrenergo said mass drone strikes damaged energy facilities, leaving large numbers of consumers without electricity in Volyn and Odesa and causing new outages in Chernihiv as restoration work continued and national demand fell 16.4%.
- Local officials reported civilian casualties and damage across multiple regions, including a death in Kostiantynivka in Donetsk, one killed and four wounded in Kherson, nine wounded in Zaporizhzhia, two wounded in Kharkiv and one injured in Sumy.
- The Institute for the Study of War assessed that Russian forces seized about 4,831 square kilometers in 2025 by adapting tactics to battlefield interdiction, infiltration and small-unit assaults, yet failed to achieve priority objectives and incurred high losses for limited gains.
- President Volodymyr Zelensky used his New Year address to reject any peace that ends Ukraine’s statehood and urged more weapons and tougher sanctions, while U.S. President Donald Trump questioned Moscow’s claim of a drone attack on Vladimir Putin’s residence and shared reporting that accuses Russia of obstructing peace efforts.