Putin Pledges Support for Soldiers' Families Amid Ongoing Ukraine Conflict

As the Russian leader faces upcoming elections, he hosts a lavish dinner for the children of fallen servicemen, while protests and deadly attacks continue.

Vladimir Putin, facing elections in March, staged a lavish Orthodox Christmas dinner for children of soldiers killed in Ukraine, promising greater support for the families of killed servicemen.
Putin's gesture comes amid continued Ukrainian attacks that have left dozens dead over the past week, including 11 people, five of them children, killed in a Russian missile attack in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.
Protests by women linked to mobilized men, demanding their return from the front, took place at Second World War memorials across Russia.
Orthodox Christmas celebrations were cancelled in the Russia border city of Belgorod, where 25 people were killed on December 30 in Ukraine’s deadliest cross-border attack of the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation on the battlefield remains relatively stable and that Russia's aggression can be defeated.