KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian air force data showed a slight fall in overnight Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine in December, despite strikes on energy infrastructure cutting power to hundreds of thousands, an AFP analysis showed on Thursday.
Russia fired at least 5,134 drones in overnight attacks in the final month of 2025, six percent less than the month before, while the number of missiles fell by 18 per cent in the same period, according to the data.
However, the same data showed Ukraine destroyed a smaller share of the total sum of missiles and drones in December -- 80 per cent, compared with 82 per cent in November. Ukraine came under intense pressure in 2025, both from Russian bombardment and on the battlefield, where it has steadily ceded ground to the Russian army.
Moscow -- which denies targeting civilians -- has fired drones at Ukraine every single night since May 10, when a unilateral three-day truce announced by President Vladimir Putin to coincide with a grand military parade in Moscow ended. US President Donald Trump, who regularly complains he does not receive credit as a peacemaker, has engaged in talks with both sides in a bid to end the fighting.
But he has so far failed to extract major concessions from the Kremlin -- which currently occupies around a fifth of Ukraine. Kyiv says Russia is not interested in peace and is deliberately trying to sabotage diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war to seize more Ukrainian territory.Russian air defence units downed a total of 29 Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow over a 20-hour New Year period, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
Sobyanin issued a long series of posts starting just before midnight (2100 GMT) on New Year’s Eve, detailing the downing of drones. Specialist crews were examining fragments from the drones at the sites where they had hit the ground. Sobyanin made no mention of casualties or damage. Restrictions were in place on the evening of New Year’s Day for two Moscow airports.
