In 2025, Russians used over 60,000 guided aerial bombs, about 2,400 missiles, and over 100,000 drones. Air raid alerts sounded at least 19,033 times across Ukraine.
The Coordination Headquarters for the first time released data on more than 10,000 Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine over almost four years of war. In the incomplete year 2025, more Russians were captured than in 2022 and 2023 combined.
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine attacked a sea oil terminal and an oil refinery in the city of Tuapse, Krasnodar Krai, Russia.
Russia again attacked energy facilities in several regions of Ukraine, causing blackouts in five regions, including over 170,000 consumers in Odesa region and thousands in Brovary district of Kyiv region. Bad weather also left part of the residents of Khmelnytskyi and Ternopil regions without electricity.
Two Ukrainian citizens have been sentenced to life imprisonment for treason. They provided the enemy with coordinates of Ukrainian Armed Forces units and military facilities for air strikes on Zhytomyr, Donetsk, and Odesa regions.
Units of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine inflicted damage on a number of military and infrastructure facilities in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia regions and in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Among the hit targets are an oil depot, a floating craft base, a radar station, deployment points and substations.
The settlement of Rodynske, Pokrovsk urban community, Donetsk region, remains under the control of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. The 14th National Guard Brigade refutes the occupiers' statements, destroying enemies who penetrate the city.
Soldiers of the Kodatska Territorial Defense Brigade captured a group of Russian occupiers with the help of drones, escorting them to the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Defense Forces of Ukraine called on Russian servicemen to surrender, guaranteeing compliance with the Geneva Conventions.
A military unit commander in Donetsk region and his subordinate are suspected of appropriating over 17 tons of fuel. The perpetrators transported the stolen fuel to Zaporizhzhia region.
Archpriest Vasyl Kiiko, abbot of the Holy Protection Church in Hryshyne village, died on December 29 as a result of Russian shelling in Donetsk region.
Russia does not change its intentions to seize Ukraine and plunge cities into "blackouts. " Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky announced increased countermeasures against enemy "Shaheds" and the formation of divisions of unmanned air defense systems.
Over the past day, 151 battles took place on the front, with the most active clashes recorded in the Pokrovsk and Huliaipole directions. The enemy launched 47 air strikes, dropping 129 guided aerial bombs, and carried out 3651 shelling attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that withdrawal from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions contradicts the law and public opinion. The issue of territories remains a key disagreement in peace talks, despite 90% agreement on a 20-point plan.
The Prosecutor General's Office has launched an investigation into the execution of two Ukrainian prisoners of war by representatives of the Russian Armed Forces on December 27, 2025, in the village of Shakhove, Pokrovsk district. The occupiers forced them to undress and then shot them, which is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions.
Commander of the National Guard of Ukraine Oleksandr Pivnenko showed a video of the combat work of the "Typhoon" unit during the assaults on Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad. The unmanned systems unit destroys Russian armored vehicles used in mechanized assaults.
Ukrainian marines eliminated enemy armored vehicles in the Pokrovsk direction. Pilots of the 88th separate battalion of the 35th separate marine brigade detected and destroyed the targets.
As of December 29, 2025, the Defense Forces of Ukraine have eliminated 1,205,690 Russian occupiers. The enemy has also lost over 11,000 tanks and 23,000 armored combat vehicles.
Russian air defense allegedly shot down two targets. Relevant videos appeared online.
On the night of December 29, residents of Maykop, the capital of the Republic of Adygea, heard explosions. The Khanskaya military airfield, where air defense operations were recorded, came under attack.
On the night of December 28, a warehouse storing Shahed-type UAVs, a pontoon crossing, and a repair unit of the Russian army in Donbas were hit.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed the damage to the Syzran oil refinery in Russia's Samara region on the night of December 28, which led to a fire. Also successfully attacked were a boat storage facility in Chornomorske, a repair unit in Antratsyt, a pontoon crossing near Nikonorivka, and a UAV warehouse in Makiivka.
The Drone Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed the defeat of the Russian GRU special forces in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region. More than 120 servicemen of the 14th Special Forces Brigade of the Russian GRU were eliminated or wounded.
In Ukraine, due to bad weather, roads are snow-covered in 9 regions and wet in 12, but passage on state-level roads is ensured. To ensure passage, 1312 units of equipment and 1484 workers have been deployed.
The Russian dictator stated that the issue would be resolved by military means if Ukraine does not seek peace on the Kremlin's terms. The Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation, Valery Gerasimov, reported on advances in Donbas, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.
On December 26, 258 combat engagements took place on the Russian-Ukrainian front. The Ukrainian Defense Forces stopped 63 assault actions of the aggressor in the Pokrovsk direction.
On December 26, the Russian army lost at least 1,240 servicemen, 33 artillery systems, and 5 tanks. The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02.22 to 27.12.25 amounted to approximately 1,203,310 personnel.
The Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled an assault by Russian troops on Dobropillia, Donetsk Oblast, destroying 12 units of armored vehicles. The remaining enemy personnel are currently being eliminated.
On December 26, units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces struck a concentration of personnel of the 14th Special Forces Brigade of the Russian Federation in Berdianske and a warehouse of the 228th Motorized Rifle Regiment in Starobesheve. An enemy fuel and lubricants depot in Volnovakha was also destroyed.
As of December 26, 2025, 97% of local budgets in Ukraine have been approved, which provides a financial basis for communities for 2026. Budgets in 55 communities still need to be approved for stable funding of educational, medical, and social institutions.
Southern regions of Ukraine are preparing for worsening weather conditions with snowfalls, and in some areas, particularly Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kherson regions, snowfalls and ice are already being recorded. In Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, snow is also observed, roads are being treated with anti-icing agents, and traffic on state-level roads is ensured.
