Russia carried out another deadly wave of missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities that it claims was in retaliation for the use of Western-donated long-range weapons on its territory. There was at least one death and several injuries in Kyiv, deaths in Kherson, injuries and damage in Kryvyi Rih and tens of thousands left without power on a frigid winter night.
“Today at around 7 a.m., the Russian armed forces launched a combined missile strike on Kyiv,” regional military administrator Serhiy Popko said on Telegram. “The enemy probably used ballistic missiles. As a result of this strike, debris was recorded falling in three districts of the city. As of now, one person has died and 11 have been injured as a result of a rocket attack on the capital, five of whom were hospitalized, and the others were treated on the spot by medics.”
In addition to the injuries, the attack left hundreds of buildings without heat.
“Due to damage to the heating main, 630 residential buildings, 16 medical institutions, 17 schools, and 13 kindergartens in Kyiv were left without heat,” Popko noted.
The attack also damaged the Albanian, Argentine, North Macedonian, Palestinian, Portuguese and Montenegrin diplomatic missions, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said. In addition, the St. Michael’s Catholic Cathedral, a Neo-gothic building built between 1899-1909, was also badly damaged.
At least two people were killed and several injured in Russian missile attacks on the city of Kherson, according to local officials. The attacks damaged several buildings and left up to 60,000 without electricity.
Several people were also injured in a missile strike on Kryvyi Rih, according to regional governor Serhiy Lysak.
“For the second night in a row, the Russians are mercilessly targeting the city,” Lysak said on Telegram. “Civilians, houses, and infrastructure are under attack. Two people who were pulled from the rubble of a destroyed house remain in hospitals. Their lives are not in danger.”
The attacks took place Thursday night into Friday morning, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
“The enemy struck with an Iskander-M ballistic missile from the Rostov region, a Kh-59/69 guided aircraft missile from the airspace of the Kursk region, and 65 Shahed attack UAVs and drones of other types from the Bryansk, Millerovo, Orel, Primorsko-Akhtarsk regions – Russia,” the Air Force stated on Telegram.
“The air attack was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups of the Air Force and the Defense Forces of Ukraine,” the Air Force claimed, adding that “40 Shahed attack UAVs and other types of drones have been shot down in Kursk, Poltava, Sumy, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions.”
“As a result of the nighttime missile and drone strike, private and apartment buildings, medical facilities, warehouses, and farms in the Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Kyiv, and Kharkiv regions were hit,” the Air Force explained.
The Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) claimed the attacks were retaliation for a Dec. 18 Ukrainian strike on the Rostov region using U.S.-produced Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) short-range ballistic missiles and U.K.-donated Storm Shadow air-based cruise missiles.
The missile strike at the Kombinat Kamensky enterprise in Rostov region was carried out by six ATACMS and four Storm Shadows, the MoD stated.
“This morning, in response to the actions of the Kyiv regime supported by Western countries, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation delivered a group strike by long-range precision weaponry at a command post of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Luch Design Bureau, which develops and manufactures Neptune missile systems and Olkha MLRS ground-based cruise missiles, as well as hit positions of a Patriot SAM system,” the MoD claimed on Telegram.
The War Zone cannot independently confirm those claims.
The Kombinat Kamensky plant produces rocket fuels used in various weapons ranging from the Kornet anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) to the Iskander-M ballistic missile, according to the Ukrainian Militarnyi news outlet.
Though Russia routinely carries out missile attacks across Ukraine, the Russian MoD vowed revenge strikes on the Kombinat Kamensky plant right after the attack.
“These actions of the Kyiv regime, supported by Western curators, will not remain unanswered,” the Russian MoD stressed at the time.
The threat of retaliation by Russia was one of the reasons given by the Biden administration for its reluctance to allow Ukraine to use ATACMS inside Russia, a nuclear power. However, after a long debate, the administration finally gave the green light for such attacks on Nov. 17, which you can read more about here. The policy change was spurred by the presence of North Korean troops fighting in Kursk, U.S. officials said. The U.K. approved the use of Storm Shadows in Russia back in May.
This all comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to use his new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile on Kyiv to conduct a technology duel with Western-donated air defense systems. You can read much more about that later in this story.
The Latest
On the battlefield, while fighting continued to rage in Russia’s Kursk region and across the east of Ukraine, little territory was gained or lost. Moscow’s forces, however, are getting closer to Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region.
Here are the key takeaways from the latest Institute for the Study of War assessment.
- Kursk: Fighting continued in the main Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast on Dec. 18, but there were no confirmed advances.
- Kharkiv: Russian forces recently marginally advanced in the Kharkiv direction amid continued offensive operations in the area on Dec. 18.
- Luhansk: Russian forces recently marginally advanced in the Kupyansk and Kreminna directions amid continued offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line on Dec. 18.
- Donetsk: Russian forces continued offensive operations toward Siversk, Chasiv Yar, Kurakhove, Vuhledar and near Velyka Novosilka on Dec. 18 but did not make any confirmed advances. Both Ukrainian and Russian forces recently advanced near Toretsk. Russian forces also recently advanced near Pokrovsk.
- Zaporizhzhia: Russian forces continued assaults in western Zaporizhia Oblast near Novoandriivka (northwest of Robotyne) and Novodanylivka and in the direction of Orikhiv (both north of Robotyne) on Dec. 17 and 18 but did not make confirmed advances.
- Kherson: Russian forces continued assaults in the Dnipro River direction, including in the east (left) bank in Kherson Oblast, on Dec. 17 and 18 but did not make confirmed advances.
The Biden administration will soon announce its final Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) package, using up the remaining $1.2 billion in funds set aside to buy new weapons for Ukraine, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the issue.
“The package includes air defense interceptors and artillery munitions, according to a third source, but the exact contents are expected when the package is announced in the coming days,” the news outlet wrote.
Earlier this week, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters, including from The War Zone, that the Pentagon might not be able to allocate the remaining $5.6 billion in Presidential Drawdown Assistance (PDA) funds before the new administration takes office. You can read more about how the administration plans to spend nearly $7 billion in remaining military aid funds for Ukraine here.
On Thursday, the Pentagon’s top spokesman was further pressed on that issue during a news conference.
“What I would say is, you know, we’re committed to spending as much of that as we can to get security assistance to Ukraine as quickly as we can,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters, including from The War Zone. “And of course we’ll keep you updated on that front.”
Ryder added that he anticipates further PDA packages will be delivered before Jan. 20, when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
In a wide-ranging marathon four-hour question and answer session with reporters and the public on Thursday, Putin touched on a variety of topics, including the potential for a peace deal with Trump, thoughts about the war, the withdrawal from Syria and how he may use a new ballistic missile against Kyiv to test Western air defenses.
Russia is nearing victory, said Putin, for a variety of reasons.
“… the advance is not by 100, 200, or 300 meters. Our fighting men are regaining the territory by square kilometers. I want to stress – every day! Why is this happening?”
“First, last year, and this basically is the classical course of hostilities, the enemy attacks, sustains a heavy defeat, loses a lot of equipment, ammunition and personnel, and then the other side starts to push forward. In our case, this is happening exactly in this way. Combat operations are a difficult thing. So, it is hard – and makes no sense – to think far too ahead. But it happens precisely in this way. And we are advancing, as we said, towards achieving the priority goals that we outlined at the start of the special military operation.”
While Putin has previously stated that the Kursk region would be fully liberated following Ukraine’s August invasion, he declined to say exactly when that will happen.
“I cannot and do not want to provide a specific date as to when they will be driven out,” he explained. “Our troops are engaged in combat right now, and the battles are intense. As I have mentioned before, there was no strategic military reason for the Ukrainian armed forces to enter the Kursk Region or to hold their position there as they are, deploying their elite assault groups and units to no avail. Yet, this situation persists. We will undoubtedly drive them out.”
He added that he is ready to meet with Trump.
“You asked what we can offer, or what I can offer to the newly elected President Trump when we meet,” Putin said in response to a question from NBC’s Keir Simmons. “First of all, I don’t know when we will meet. Because he hasn’t said anything about it. I haven’t spoken to him at all in over four years. Of course, I am ready for this at any time, and I will be ready for a meeting if he wants it.”
Asked what he would do differently about launching the war, Putin said: “Knowing what’s happening now, back in 2022 I would’ve thought the decision ought to have been taken earlier. We ought to have started getting ready for those developments, and the special military operation, before.”
He also threatened to hit Kyiv with the new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) as a way to test the Western-provided air defense systems.
“There are several types of air defense systems … such as Patriot and the more modern [Terminal High Altitude Area Defense] THAAD systems,” Putin said, the latter of which has not been sent to Ukraine. “I do not know if Ukraine has them, but I do not think so. If the Americans want, they can send its THAAD systems to Ukraine. These are more modern systems similar to our S-400 systems. The Patriot systems are comparable to our S-300s, while THAAD is similar to our S-400 systems, if only slightly inferior. Let them send these systems to Ukraine, and we will ask our people in Ukraine to tell us about the modern solutions of these systems which we could use.”
That comparative of missile systems is wildly inaccurate by any standards.
As for the name of the missile, Putin smirked, claiming he did not know its origin.
“Honestly, no idea,” he said. “No clue.”
Last month, Russia struck the city of Dnipro with the Oreshnik, most likely a conventionally armed IRBM based on the RS-26 Rubezh. You can read more about the history of this weapon in our deep dive here.
That comment did not sit well with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He called Putin “a scumbag” over the proposed missile technology duel.
As Russian troops advanced to within three kilometers (less than two miles) of the key Ukrainian logistical hub of Pokrovsk, its defenders complained of exhaustion, poor leadership, and inadequate communications among other problems.
“We have a system of circular insanity,” one of the soldiers groused to the Ukrainian Hromadske news outlet. “Instead of passing information up the chain to make adequate decisions, there is a reluctance to deliver bad news because it will result in sanctions. This leads to negative selection of commanders, as those who accurately report information and challenge unreasonable orders are unwelcome. Instead, commanders who blindly follow even the most absurd of orders are promoted.”
With the region caught in its frigid winter, both sides are striking energy infrastructure to destroy morale and reduce the capacity to wage war. The Armed Forces as well as the Security Service of Ukraine attacked the AT Novoshakhtinsky Oil Plant in the Rostov region of Russia, the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff stated on Facebook. The General Staff claimed it was the only refinery operating in the Rostov region and produces 7.5 million tons of oil annually.
Video from the scene showed portions of the plant engulfed in flames.
Ukraine continues to use its thermite-spewing so-called dragon drones, which first appeared on the battlefield several months ago. Primarily used in grenades and artillery shells, among other applications, thermite is a combination of oxidized iron and aluminum that burns at about 4,440 degrees Fahrenheit.
The video below shows one torching a Russian dugout near the town of Siversk in the Donetsk region.
A massive Black Sea storm that caused two Russian oil vessels to sink and a third to issue a distress call may have also damaged the anti-sea drone barrier protecting the Kerch Bridge.
The barrier, as we previously reported, was made up of nearly three dozen barges sunk just south of the twice-attacked bridge. The extent of the storm damage, however, is unclear.
There were 34 barges there as of Oct. 1. Naval expert HI Sutton posted on Twitter Thursday that of those, only 11 remain. He suggested that the other 23 possibly sank in the storm. However, on Dec. 10, the Kyiv Independent noted that there were far fewer barges there before Sunday’s storm.
“Recent Sentinel-2 satellite images from Dec. 8 reveal only 18 barges remaining between Tuzla Island and the Kerch Peninsula,” the publication reported. “The fate of the other 16 vessels is unclear.”
The barriers were designed to stop Ukrainian uncrewed surface vessels (USV) from striking the bridge. It was severely damaged in July 2023 by a Ukrainian Sea Baby drone boat attack and before that by a truck bomb in October 2022.
While the status of the bridge barrier is uncertain, the oil leaking out of the ships sunk in the storm created a huge environmental disaster.
It looks like more North Korean 170mm M1989 Koksan self-propelled artillery units are heading to the front lines. The main advantage of the weapon is its long range, with the big 170mm gun assessed as capable of firing a standard shell to a range of around 25 miles, or a rocket-assisted shell to a range of 37 miles. For a long time, the weapon was judged to be the longest-range conventional artillery piece in North Korean service. The Koksans first began to appear in Russia in November.
Ukrainian troops received more than one million drones this year and there are plans to push out another 100,000 by the end of the year, the Defense Ministry stated.
“Kyiv’s combat units received 1.1 million FPV kamikaze drones through the State Special Communications Service this year,” according to the Defense Post. “The country also has 40,000 multirotor reconnaissance drones, including over 12,000 designed for nighttime missions, and 5,000 fixed-wing reconnaissance UAVs, such as the Shark, GOR, and Furia. The Ukrainian arsenal also includes over 6,000 long-range attack drones, including systems like the An-196 ‘Feb and Firepoint. Moreover, the army can operate up to 2,000 reusable strike UAVs, including the Nemesis, Bat, and Vampire, and 5,000 reusable FPV copters.”
“Providing the defense forces with modern UAVs remains a priority, which allows the strengthening of the country’s defense capability and the effectiveness of combat operations,” the Defense Ministry explained.
First-person view (FPV) drones pose a ubiquitous threat to troops on both sides of the conflict. In the following video, you can see Russian troops training to avoid them by dodging a drone tied to a tether and swinging toward them by other soldiers.
The need for additional training is highlighted in the following video, which reportedly shows one North Korean soldier shooting another as he tried to fend off an FPV attack. The UA_Reg Team military unit claimed on Telegram that it flew the drone in between the soldiers to induce friendly fire.
Ukrainian troops are taking a far more high-tech approach to training on how to defeat drones, as you can see in the following video. It shows a soldier, back from the Kursk front, using a Browning machine gun simulator to learn how to better take down Iranian-produced Shahed drones.
Speaking of counter-drone measures, the Russian Project Archangel Telegram channel recently published a how-to guide on electronic warfare (EW) for volunteers. Drone expert Samuel Bendett was kind enough to run the manual through a machine translator.
Among other things, the manual provides a glossary of terms, information about how to troubleshoot EW equipment and a suggestion that volunteers become well-versed in the technical data of various enemy drones and research the proper countermeasures. The cost of those should be the last factor to consider, the manual argues, because “volunteers often buy what they have the money for and are happy about it.”
That’s it for now.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com