KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired more than 650 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday, officials said. At least three people were killed, including a 4-year-old child, two days before Christmas.
The barrage struck homes and the power grid in 13 regions of Ukraine, causing widespread outages in bitter temperatures, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, a day after he described recent progress on finding a peace deal as “quite solid.”
The bombardment demonstrated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention of pursuing the invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Ukrainian and European officials have complained that Putin is not sincerely engaging with U.S.-led peace efforts.
The attack “is an extremely clear signal of Russian priorities,” Zelenskyy said. “A strike before Christmas, when people want to be with their families, at home, in safety. A strike, in fact, in the midst of negotiations that are being conducted to end this war. Putin cannot accept the fact that we must stop killing.”
U.S. President Donald Trump has for months been pressing for a peace agreement, but the negotiations have become entangled in the very different demands from Moscow and Kyiv.
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives. Trump was less effusive Monday, saying, “The talks are going along.”
Initial reports from Ukrainian emergency services said the child died in Ukraine’s northwestern Zhytomyr region, while a drone killed a woman in the Kyiv region, and another civilian death was recorded in the western Khmelnytskyi region, according to Zelenskyy.
Russia launched 635 drones of various types and 38 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said. Air defenses stopped 587 drones and 34 missiles, it said.
It was the ninth large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy system this year and left multiple regions in the west without power, while emergency power outages were in place across the country, acting Energy Minister Artem Nekraso said. Work to restore power would begin as soon as the security situation permitted, he said.
Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, DTEK, said the attack targeted thermal power stations in what it said was the seventh major strike on the company’s facilities since October.
DTEK’s thermal power plants have been hit more than 220 times since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Those attacks have killed four workers and wounded 59.
Authorities in the western regions of Rivne, Ternopil and Lviv, as well as the northern Sumy region, reported damage to energy infrastructure or power outages after the attack.
In the southern Odesa region, Russia struck energy, port, transport, industrial and residential infrastructure, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.
A merchant ship and over 120 homes were damaged, he said.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, a residential house burns after a Russian strike in Kyiv region, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, a residential house is seen damaged after a Russian strike in Zhytomyr region, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
NEW DELHI (AP) — A protest erupted in India’s capital Tuesday in response to the death of a Hindu man who was lynched and burned by an angry mob in neighboring Bangladesh, a new sign of strain in relations between the neighboring countries.
The protest in New Delhi, mainly led by Hindu nationalist organization Vishva Hindu Parishad, highlights the fragility in the relationship between India and Bangladesh, which often is held up as a rare example of stability in South Asia.
Bangladeshi student leader Sharif Osman Hadi died in a hospital in Singapore on Thursday after being shot on Dec. 12 in Dhaka. Police in Bangladesh said they identified suspects and the shooter likely had fled to India.
Hadi’s death triggered widespread violence in Dhaka. The offices of two national daily newspapers were torched and Indian diplomatic missions were targeted. A Hindu man also was burned alive, which sparked the protest Tuesday in India.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Tuesday near the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, shouting slogans and accusing Bangladeshi groups of wrongly targeting minorities. They carried placards and banners with slogans including “India will not tolerate torture of Hindus in Bangladesh” and “Our silence should not be mistaken as weakness, we are lions.”
Authorities erected barricades and imposed tight security around the diplomatic enclave that included police and armored vehicles. Security personnel used batons to hold back some protesters who broke through barricades in an apparent attempt to enter the embassy.
One of the Indian protestors, Rajkumar Jindal, threatened “dire consequences” if authorities in Bangladesh failed to stop violence against Hindus.
“People who are committing atrocities should stop doing that. We are here to awaken the people who are asleep,” Jindal said.
Hadi took part in a 2024 political uprising that ended the 15-year rule of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been in exile since fleeing Bangladesh on Aug. 5, 2024. He was a fierce critic of India and Hasina and planned to run as an independent candidate in a major constituency in Dhaka in the next national elections in February.
Hadi's death sparked a new diplomatic squabble with India and prompted New Delhi this week to summon Bangladesh’s envoy.
Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also summoned Pranay Verma, the Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh, to apprise him of the security situation at Bangladesh missions in New Delhi and state capitals Kolkata and Agartala, a leading Bengali-language newspaper reported Tuesday.
Tensions between India and Bangladesh increased again with the death on Thursday of Dipu Chandra Das, a 25-year-old Hindu man who was lynched and burned publicly following allegations of blasphemy in Mymensingh district’s Bhaluka subdistrict.
Das's killing contributed to a pattern of fear among the Hindu community in Bangladesh following the ouster of Hasina.
Religious minority groups including Hindus and Christians have accused Bangladesh's interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus of failing to protect the safety of Hindus and others. The Yunus administration has rejected the allegations.
Tuesday's protest could complicate cooperation on trade, border management and regional connectivity at a time when the region is already grappling with economic uncertainty and political polarization, said Sreeram Sundar Chaulia, an international affairs expert at New Delhi’s Jindal School of International Affairs.
“Opposing India and alleging Indian conspiracies of interference in Bangladesh are being done in order to harden a blatantly Islamist and non-inclusive path for the country,” Chaulia said.
The rupture is a setback to India’s broader regional strategy, while for Bangladesh the loss of India’s development assistance and markets could further dampen the country's slowing economy and push it further into dependence on China, Chaulia said.
Bangladesh and India have enjoyed a warm relationship since 2009 when Hasina came to power and until her ouster. Hasina was considered a friend by India and both countries thrived on bilateral cooperation. But Hasina’s opponents accused her administration of being subservient to India, a major trade and investment partner.
Alam reported from Dhaka.
Activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a prominent right-wing Hindu nationalist organization, shout slogans during a protest near Bangladesh High Commission accusing Bangladeshi groups of wrongly targeting Indians, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Dec.23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a prominent right-wing Hindu nationalist organization, shout slogans during a protest near Bangladesh High Commission accusing Bangladeshi groups of wrongly targeting Indians, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Dec.23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a prominent right-wing Hindu nationalist organization, shout slogans during a protest near Bangladesh High Commission accusing Bangladeshi groups of wrongly targeting Indians, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Dec.23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Police officers try to stop activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a prominent right-wing Hindu nationalist organization, crossing over barricades during a protest near Bangladesh High Commission accusing Bangladeshi groups of wrongly targeting Indians, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a prominent right-wing Hindu nationalist organization, shout slogans during a protest near Bangladesh High Commission accusing Bangladeshi groups of wrongly targeting Indians, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Dec.23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
