Vladimir Putin unleashed savage overnight strikes on Kyiv, hammering residential tower blocks and energy infrastructure just hours before Volodymyr Zelensky is due to meet Donald Trump in Florida for talks on a US-brokered peace plan.
The onslaught came after Trump signaled he would be assessing Zelensky’s proposals at tomorrow’s summit, saying: ‘We’ll see what he’s got,’ as pressure mounts to end the war.
Russia deployed the full force of its Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bombers, firing hypersonic Kinzhal missiles alongside Iskander and Kalibr cruise missiles, and swarms of Shahed drones in what appeared to be a calculated show of force ahead of the talks.
The intensity of the blitz was so extreme that NATO was forced to scramble fighter jets for a second consecutive day amid fears Putin’s ‘seasonal’ terror strikes could spill across borders.
Large parts of Kyiv were left without heating, power and water as temperatures dipped to minus one degree Celsius.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said around one third of the capital had lost heating, while at least 11 people were injured, eight of them hospitalised, as smog from burning buildings blanketed the city.
The overnight assault – which included drones slamming into apartment blocks and the disabling of multiple power and heating plants – raises profound questions over whether Putin has any genuine intention of ending the war.
Vladimir Putin unleashed savage overnight strikes on Kyiv, hammering residential tower blocks and energy infrastructure just hours before Volodymyr Zelensky is due to meet Donald Trump in Florida for talks on a US-brokered peace plan
The onslaught came after Trump warned that Ukraine’s leader would need to convince him at the summit, saying: ‘We’ll see what he’s got,’ as pressure mounts to end the war
The overnight assault – which included drones slamming into apartment blocks and the disabling of multiple power and heating plants – raises profound questions over whether Putin has any genuine intention of ending the war
Trump has insisted Russia ‘wants’ peace. If so, there was little evidence of it in Kyiv overnight.
A New Year greetings card to his henchmen from Putin promised ‘changes for the better’ and urged them to ‘share their warmth with our loved ones’ – just as he unleashed his latest terror strikes on Ukraine, plunging hundreds of thousands into the cold.
The barrage, which included hypersonic missiles, triggered military aviation activity in neighbouring Polish airspace.
Poland’s Operational Command said fighter aircraft had been scrambled and air defence and radar reconnaissance systems placed on high readiness ‘due to the activity of long-range Russian air forces carrying out strikes on Ukrainian territory’.
‘These operations are preventative in nature and are aimed at securing and protecting airspace, particularly in areas adjacent to the threatened areas,’ the statement said.
A day earlier, NATO forces were forced to scramble F-16 fighters over Romania.
Territory close to the Romanian border was again hit on Saturday, with Kh-22 cruise missiles launched from Tu-22M3 long-range bombers striking Ukraine’s Odesa region.
Russiadeployed the full force of its Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bombers, firing hypersonic Kinzhal missiles alongside Iskander and Kalibr cruise missiles, and swarms of Shahed drones in what appeared to be a calculated show of force on the eve of the talks
Kyiv was bathed in smog from burning buildings following the attacks from hell
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said around one third of the capital had lost heating, while at least 11 people were injured, eight of them hospitalised, as smog from burning buildings blanketed the city
In Vyshgorod, in the wider Kyiv region, rescuers pulled a man from the ruins of a house destroyed in a Russian strike.
Ukrainian war commentator Denis Kazansky said the attacks showed Russia’s contempt for calls for a ceasefire over New Year and Christmas.
‘They again struck residential buildings and civilian targets with drones and missiles,’ he said.
‘To leave people without heat in freezing cold – the most vulnerable left to freeze in their apartments.’
Killed overnight was Denis Kapustin, 41, founder and commander of the pro-Ukrainian Russian Volunteer Corps, a fiercely anti-Putin figure who had twice been sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment.
He ‘heroically died while carrying out a combat mission’, his comrades said, and is believed to have been killed in an FPV drone strike in Zaporizhzhia region.
Ukraine also confirmed overnight strikes in Donetsk region on Russia’s 14th Spetsnaz Brigade in Berdianske and a logistics depot of the 228th Motor Rifle Regiment near Starobesheve, while a fuel depot was destroyed near occupied Volnovakha.
Putin’s New Year card read: ‘We always await these bright holidays with particular excitement and hope… We sincerely believe that our kind dreams and aspirations will surely come true, and the coming year will bring changes for the better.’
The escalation came as Zelensky prepared to travel to the United States for Sunday’s meeting with Trump – talks now overshadowed by fresh Russian accusations and renewed bombardment.
Zelensky is due to meet President Donald Trump in Florida this weekend, but Russia accused the Ukrainian leader and his European backers on Friday of seeking to ‘torpedo’ a US-brokered plan to stop the fighting.
Sunday’s meeting to discuss new peace proposals comes as Trump intensifies efforts to end Europe’s worst conflict since World War II, one that has killed tens of thousands since February 2022.
Ukrainian war commentator Denis Kazansky said the attacks showed Russia’s contempt for calls for a ceasefire over New Year and Christmas
This photograph taken on December 27, 2025 shows Ukrainian air defence firing at drones during a Russian drones and missiles attack, in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine
The 20-point plan would freeze the war on its current front line but open the door for Ukraine to pull back troops from the east, where demilitarised buffer zones could be created, according to details revealed by Zelensky this week.
Ahead of the talks, AFP journalists reported further explosions in Kyiv on Saturday, and authorities warned of a possible missile attack.
‘Explosions in the capital. Air defence forces are operating. Stay in shelters!’ Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.
Ukraine’s air force announced a countrywide air alert and said drones and missiles were moving over several regions including Kyiv.
Zelensky’s office said earlier that a meeting with Trump is planned for Sunday in Florida, where the US leader has a home.
Trump, speaking to news outlet Politico, said about Zelensky’s plan that ‘he doesn’t have anything until I approve it’.
Zelensky meanwhile said he held telephone talks on Friday with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz and a host of other European leaders.
In Vyshgorod, in the wider Kyiv region, rescuers pulled a man from the ruins of a house destroyed in a Russian strike. Pictured: A building damaged during a Russian drone and missile attack in Kyiv,
The escalation came as Zelensky prepared to travel to the United States for Sunday’s meeting with Trump – talks now overshadowed by fresh Russian accusations and renewed bombardment
A spokesperson for Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the leaders ‘reiterated their unshakeable commitment for a just and lasting peace for Ukraine and the importance that talks continue to progress towards this in the coming days’.
The new plan formulated with Ukraine’s input is Kyiv’s most explicit acknowledgement yet of possible territorial concessions and is very different from an initial 28-point proposal tabled by Washington last month that adhered to many of Russia’s core demands.
Part of the plan includes separate US-Ukraine bilateral agreements on security guarantees, reconstruction and the economy. Zelensky said those were changing on a daily basis.
‘We will discuss these documents, security guarantees,’ he said of Sunday’s meeting.
‘As for sensitive issues, we will discuss (the eastern region of) Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and we will certainly discuss other issues,’ he added.
Russia signalled its opposition to the plan ahead of the Florida talks.
The Kremlin said Friday that foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov had held telephone talks with US officials, and deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov criticised Zelensky’s stance.
People shelter at the metro station during a Russian drone and missile attack, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine December 27, 2025
A firefighter works at the site of a car repair workshop damaged during Russian missile and drone strikes, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine December 27, 2025
‘Our ability to make the final push and reach an agreement will depend on our own work and the political will of the other party,’ Ryabkov said on Russian television.
‘Especially in a context where Kyiv and its sponsors – notably within the European Union, who are not in favour of an agreement – have stepped up efforts to torpedo it.’
He said the proposal drawn up with Zelensky input ‘differs radically’ from points initially drawn up by US and Russian officials in contacts this month.
He said any deal had to ‘remain within the limits’ fixed by Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin when they met in Alaska in August, or else ‘no accord can be reached’.
Zelensky said this week there were still disagreements between Kyiv and Washington over the two core issues of territory and and the status of the Zaporizhzhia plant.
Washington has pushed Ukraine to withdraw from the 20 percent of the eastern Donetsk region that it still controls – Russia’s main territorial demand.
It has also proposed joint US-Ukrainian-Russian control of Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear plant, which Russia seized during the invasion.
Zelensky said he could only give up more land if the Ukrainian people agree to it in a referendum, and he does not want Russian participation in the nuclear plant.
Ukraine appears to have won some concessions in the new plan, which, according to Zelensky, removed a requirement for Kyiv to legally renounce its bid to join NATO as well as previous clauses on territory seized by Russia since 2014 being recognised as belonging to Moscow.
But Moscow has shown little inclination to abandon its hardline territorial demands that Ukraine fully withdraw from Donbas and end efforts to join NATO.
Zelensky said Ukrainian negotiators were not directly in touch with Moscow, but that the United States acted as intermediary and was awaiting Russia’s response to the latest proposal.
‘I think we will know their official response in the coming days,’ Zelensky said.
‘Russia is always looking for reasons not to agree,’ he added.
