Overview
- Russia’s Investigative Committee said 27 people, including two minors, were killed and opened a terrorism case after what Moscow claims was a Ukrainian drone strike on a café and hotel in occupied Khorly.
- Ukraine’s military said it targets only legitimate military and energy facilities and published a list of New Year’s Eve strikes that did not include occupied Kherson; a Ukrainian defense source told AFP the strike targeted a military gathering, which AFP could not verify.
- Independent outlets, including the Associated Press, said they could not confirm the competing accounts from Russian-installed officials and Kyiv due to limited access to occupied areas.
- U.S. intelligence told President Trump there was no credible evidence Ukraine tried to hit President Putin’s residence in Novgorod, a separate allegation Russia says is supported by a drone fragment it handed to a U.S. attaché.
- Ukrainian authorities reported Russian attacks that killed one person in Kherson and heavily struck Zaporizhzhia, where regional officials counted 737 attacks in a day and reported damage to homes and infrastructure.