At least three dead as Russia launches ‘large-scale missile attacks’ on ‘peaceful cities’ across Ukraine
Russia has launched a large-scale missile attack across Ukraine, with at least three people dead after residential and industrial buildings were hit, Ukrainian authorities said.
Two people were killed after a Russian missile hit critical infrastructure in the western Ukraine region of Khmelnytskyi, regional officials said.
At least six blasts have been reported there but officials gave no immediate details of damage.
Meanwhile a 62-year-old was killed outside the south central city of Kryvyi Rih where governor Serhiy Lysak said a shopping centre and more than two dozen private buildings were damaged in strikes.
“The mad enemy once again struck civilians,” Mr Lysak wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “Directed missiles at people.”
Oleksandr Vilkul, the mayor of Kryvyi Rih, reported that 15,000 residents were without power and that local trams and trolleybuses were not running.
“The enemy is viciously attacking peaceful cities,” Mr Vilkul said.
Follow latest: Live Ukraine war updates
Volunteers talk next to an apartment building damaged in the strikes on Zaporizhzhia
Mr Vilkul said full information about the extent of potential damages would be disclosed after the Russian attack was over.
All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts for more than three hours from around 6am local time (4am UK time) with Ukraine’s Air Force saying the country was under threat from several waves of cruise missiles.
The latest strikes come as a cold snap sweeps across Ukraine.
The targets of the Russian attack and the full scale of the strikes has not been immediately clear.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow.
People take shelter inside a metro station in Kyiv during an air raid alert today
Anatoliy Kurtiev, secretary of the southeastern Zaporizhzhia city council, said on Telegram that a missile attack on the city resulted in injuries, but he did not provide further details.
In the eastern city of Kharkiv, an industrial site and educational facility were damaged after at least four missile strikes, governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
At least one woman has been injured in the strikes on the city, mayor Ihor Terekhov said on the Telegram messaging app.
Meanwhile, four people were wounded in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, where governor Yuriy Malashko reported five explosions and said residential areas had been hit.
“Missiles hit residential areas,” Mr Malaskho said on Telegram.
Read more from Sky News:
Putin praises ‘Russian warriors’ on eve of Orthodox Christmas
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From Sunday 7 January: Moments after Russian strike on Ukraine
Military officials in other cities, including Dnipro in central Ukraine, said they were under a “massive missile attack” by Russia.
The attack comes as the governor of the Belgorod region in Russia, around 19 miles from the border with Ukraine, said 300 people have been moved out of the city following repeated Ukrainian strikes.
The evacuations began over the weekend.
Nearly two years into the war that Russia started with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, both sides have shifted to increased airstrikes, having struggled to make significant gains along the frontlines.
Russia has launched some of its largest attacks on Kyiv, as well as Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv.
Vladimir Putin with the families of soldiers killed in Ukraine
The latest strikes come after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to back soldiers who defend Russia’s interests, ordering his government to give greater support to those who fight.
He made the remarks after Russia launched drone and missile attacks on Ukraine over the weekend – with two people killed and several injured in the southern city of Kherson, while twelve people were injured in a strike on Dnipro.
Speaking on the eve of Orthodox Christmas, the Russian president said on Saturday while meeting families of soldiers killed in Ukraine: “Many of our men, our courageous, heroic guys, Russian warriors, even now, on this holiday, defend the interests of our country with arms in hand.”
Bob Geldof has accused the Israeli authorities of “lying” about starvation in Gaza – after Israel’s government spokesperson claimed there was “no famine caused by Israel”.
Earlier this week, David Mencer claimed that Hamas “starves its own people” while on The News Hour with Mark Austin, denying that Israel was responsible for mass hunger in Gaza.
Appearing on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Geldof said the claims are false.
Follow latest: Gaza aid airdrops a ‘smokescreen’ and ‘distraction’, says UN agency chief
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Israel challenged on starvation in Gaza
Mr Phillips asked the Live Aid organiser: “The Israeli view is that there is no famine caused by Israel, there’s a manmade shortage, but it’s been engineered by Hamas.
“I guess the Israelis would say we don’t see much criticism from your side of Hamas.”
In response, Geldof said “that’s a false equivalence” and “the Israeli authorities are lying”.
The singer then added: “They’re lying. [Benjamin] Netanyahu lies, is a liar. The IDF are lying. They’re dangling food in front of starving, panicked, exhausted mothers.
“And while they arrive to accept the tiny amount of food that this sort of set up pantomime outfit, the Gaza Humanitarian Front, I would call it, as they dangle it, then they’re shot wantonly.
“This month, up to now, a thousand children or a thousand people have died of starvation. I’m really not interested in what either of these sides are saying.”
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Gaza: ‘This is man-made starvation’
In the interview with Mark Austin on 23 July, Mr Mencer added: “This suffering exists because Hamas made it so. Here are the facts. Aid is flowing, through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Millions of meals are being delivered directly to civilians.” He also claimed that since May more than 4,400 aid trucks had entered Gaza carrying supplies.
It comes after MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, warned 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished.
The charity said Israel’s “deliberate use of starvation as a weapon” has reached unprecedented levels, and said that at one of its clinics in Gaza City, rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have trebled over the past two weeks.
MSF then called the lack of food and water on the ground as “unconscionable”.
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Aid waiting to be distributed in Gaza
In a statement to Sky News, an Israeli security official said that “despite the false claims that are being spread, the State of Israel does not limit the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip”.
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It then blamed other groups for issues delivering aid. They said: “Over the past month, we have witnessed a significant decline in the collection of aid from the crossings into the Gaza Strip by international aid organisations.
“The delays in collection by the UN and international organisations harm the situation and the food security of Gaza’s residents.”
The IDF also told Sky News: “The IDF allows the American civilian organisation (GHF) to distribute aid to Gaza residents independently, and operates in proximity to the new distribution zones to enable the distribution alongside the continuation of IDF operational activities in the Gaza Strip.
“Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted in the Southern Command and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned.
“The aforementioned incidents are under review by the competent authorities in the IDF.”
You can watch the full interview on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips at 8.30am tomorrow.
World
25% of young children and pregnant women malnourished in Gaza, charity says, as PM vows to fly critical medical cases to UK
A charity has warned 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished, with Sir Keir Starmer vowing to evacuate children who need “critical medical assistance” to the UK.
MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said Israel’s “deliberate use of starvation as a weapon” has reached unprecedented levels – with patients and healthcare workers both fighting to survive.
It claimed that, at one of its clinics in Gaza City, rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have trebled over the past two weeks – and described the lack of food and water on the ground as “unconscionable”.
Pic: Reuters
The charity also criticised the high number of fatalities seen at aid distribution sites, with one British surgeon accusing IDF soldiers of shooting civilians “almost like a game of target practice”.
MSF’s deputy medical coordinator in Gaza, Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaisib, said: “Those who go to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s food distributions know that they have the same chance of receiving a sack of flour as they do of leaving with a bullet in their head.”
The UN also estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food – the majority near the militarised distribution sites of the US-backed aid distribution scheme run by the GHF.
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‘Many more deaths unless Israelis allow food in’
In a statement on Friday, the IDF had said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians”, and reports of incidents at aid distribution sites were “under examination”.
The GHF has also previously disputed that these deaths were connected with its organisation’s operations, with director Johnnie Moore telling Sky News: “We just want to feed Gazans. That’s the only thing that we want to do.”
Israel says it has let enough food into Gaza and has accused the UN of failing to distribute it, in what the foreign ministry has labelled as “a deliberate ploy” to defame the country.
‘Humanitarian catastrophe must end’
In a video message posted on X late last night, Sir Keir Starmer condemned the scenes in Gaza as “appalling” and “unrelenting” – and said “the images of starvation and desperation are utterly horrifying”.
The prime minister added: “The denial of aid to children and babies is completely unjustifiable, just as the continued captivity of hostages is completely unjustifiable.
“Hundreds of civilians have been killed while seeking aid – children, killed, whilst collecting water. It is a humanitarian catastrophe, and it must end.”
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Israeli military show aid waiting inside Gaza
Sir Keir confirmed that the British government is now “accelerating efforts” to evacuate children from Gaza who need critical medical assistance, so they can be brought to the UK for specialist treatment.
Israel has now said that foreign countries will be able to airdrop aid into Gaza. While the PM says the UK will now “do everything we can” to get supplies in via this route, he said this decision has come “far too late”.
Read more:
WHO: Gaza faces ‘manmade’ starvation
UN: People in Gaza ‘walking corpses’
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Last year, the RAF dropped aid into Gaza, but humanitarian organisations warned it wasn’t enough and was potentially dangerous. In March 2024, five people were killed when an aid parachute failed and supplies fell on them.
For now, Sir Keir has rejected calls to follow French President Emmanuel Macron and recognise a Palestinian state – despite more than 220 MPs signing a cross-party letter to demand he takes this step.
The prime minister is instead demanding a ceasefire and “lasting peace” – and says he will only consider an independent state as part of a negotiated peace deal.
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