Overview
- Ukrainian officials said a Russian missile strike on Odesa’s port area killed eight and wounded dozens, with additional damage reported at nearby Pivdennyi and repeated hits disabling the Dniester River bridge that carried a major share of fuel deliveries.
- Ukraine’s General Staff counted 223 combat engagements on December 21, with the fiercest fighting near Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka and widespread use of kamikaze drones and guided aerial bombs.
- Ukrainian authorities reported a Russian cross-border push near Hrabovske in Sumy region and said more than 50 civilians were forcibly taken into Russia, prompting a war-crimes investigation and expanded evacuations from border communities.
- Ukraine said drones struck Russia’s Filanovsky oil rig and the patrol ship Okhotnik in the Caspian Sea, and separately hit two Su-27 jets at Crimea’s Belbek airfield, while Russia has not confirmed the claimed damage.
- Zelensky said Russia launched roughly 1,300 attack drones, nearly 1,200 guided bombs and nine missiles over the past week as US-hosted talks in Miami and French-Russian signals for dialogue proceeded without a ceasefire deal.