Russian officials said a New Year’s drone attack struck a resort village in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, while Kyiv did not immediately comment and diplomats reported progress in ongoing peace negotiations.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Russian authorities said Thursday that a Ukrainian drone strike killed 24 people and wounded at least 50 others as residents gathered to celebrate the New Year in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine’s Kherson region, escalating tensions even as diplomatic efforts toward a peace settlement continue.
According to Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-installed head of the Kherson region, three drones struck a café and a hotel in the Black Sea resort town of Khorly. Saldo said one of the drones carried an incendiary mixture that ignited a fire, contributing to the casualties.
Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment on the allegation. The claim could not be independently verified.
Russian officials quickly condemned the reported strike. Valentina Matviyenko, chair of Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, said the incident reinforced Moscow’s determination to pursue its objectives in its nearly four-year war against Ukraine.
“The strike once again demonstrates the validity of our initial demands,” Matviyenko said.
The comments followed separate claims by Moscow earlier this week that Ukraine had launched a long-range drone attack against one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official residences in northwestern Russia. Ukrainian officials dismissed those allegations as false.
Russia’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday released a nighttime video showing what it said was a downed drone involved in the alleged attack. The footage showed a masked man in camouflage standing near a damaged drone lying in snow, but no location or date was provided, and the claims could not be independently verified.
Kyiv has described the allegations involving Putin’s residence as an attempt to undermine peace negotiations, which have intensified in recent weeks in Europe and the United States.
In a New Year’s address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a peace agreement was “90% ready,” while warning that unresolved issues — believed to include territorial questions — would determine the outcome for Ukraine and Europe.
Meanwhile, diplomatic engagement continued. Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, said Wednesday that he, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and presidential adviser Jared Kushner held what he described as a productive call with national security advisers from Britain, France, Germany, and Ukraine.
Witkoff said the discussions focused on advancing the next steps in the peace process, including security guarantees and mechanisms to prevent renewed fighting.
Ukraine’s lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said European and Ukrainian officials plan to meet Saturday, while Zelenskyy is expected to hold talks with European leaders next week.
Elsewhere, fighting continued overnight. Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces launched multiple waves of drone attacks on the Odesa region, damaging civilian infrastructure. Regional governor Oleh Kiper said a two-story residential building was damaged and that a drone struck an apartment on the 17th floor of a high-rise building without detonating. No casualties were reported.
Ukraine’s air force said air defenses intercepted or suppressed 176 of 205 drones launched overnight. It reported that 24 strike drones hit 15 locations and that the attack was still ongoing as of its daily update.
The reported violence underscored the fragile backdrop against which negotiations aimed at ending the conflict are unfolding.
Featured Image: Image made from undated video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, shows a downed drone at an undisclosed location that it said was one of the Ukrainian drones involved in an alleged attack on a residence of President Vladimir Putin this week – a claim Kyiv has denied as a “lie”. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service)
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