Widespread power outages reported across Ukraine as mass Russian strike kills 3

Overnight Russian attacks on Ukraine have killed three people, including a four-year-old child in Zhytomyr, northern Ukraine, with several others injured, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported on Tuesday.

A 76-year-old woman was killed outside Vyshhorod, in the Kyiv region, and a 72-year-old man was killed in Khmelnytskyi, western Ukraine, local authorities reported.

The strikes caused widespread power outages across the country, hitting what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described as “essentially the entire infrastructure of daily life”. More than 600 drones and 30 missiles were launched overnight, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.

The attacks send “an extremely clear signal about Russia’s priorities”, Zelensky said, adding that they came just before Christmas, "when people simply want to be with their families, at home, and safe”.

Ukraine has celebrated Christmas on 25 December since 2023, when it began using the Gregorian calendar to further distance itself from Russia, which celebrates the holiday on 7 January.

The bombardment comes amid heightened tensions following the death of high-ranking Russian military official Fanil Sarvarov in a car bomb in Moscow on Monday, with Russian investigators looking into whether the attack could be linked to the Ukrainian secret services.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones struck a chemical plant in Stavropol, southern Russia, in the early hours of Tuesday, sparking a fire but causing no casualties. While Telegram news channel ASTRA said the plant produced polyethylene and polypropylene, Ukraine’s General Staff said that it made components for military equipment. 

Russia’s Defence Ministry reported that the country’s air defences had shot down 29 Ukrainian drones overnight, including seven in the Stavropol region.