Russian shelling killed four adults and a child in Ukraine on December 23

The National Police reported that as a result of Russian military shelling on December 23, 2025, five civilians were killed in the Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, and Kherson regions, and more than 10 others sustained various injuries, including in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Law enforcement officers provide assistance to an injured person in Kyiv

The victims of the Russian shelling on December 23 were:

• a 21-year-old young man from Barvinivka, killed by a drone;
• a person from Lyman, who, judging by reports, was hit by a Russian drone while traveling by car;
• a 44-year-old resident of Tomyna Balka, who sustained fatal injuries following a Russian drone strike;
• an 80-year-old woman from the Kyiv Oblast;
• a four-year-old child from the Zhytomyr Oblast.

In addition, in the Kherson region, it became known about the death of a 56-year-old resident of Kherson from the Dniprovskyi District, which occurred on December 22. Law enforcement officers say that the Russians dropped an explosive from a drone while the man was standing near the entrance to his building in the evening.

A car hit by the Russian military in the Dnipropetrovsk region on December 23, 2025

Due to enemy strikes on December 23, many civilians also sustained injuries.

Thus, in Zaporizhzhia, four residents were injured, and another 19-year-old young man was injured in Barvinivka. In the Kherson region, a fellow villager of the deceased man from Tomyna Balka was among the injured, and in the Donetsk Oblast – three civilians from Kostiantynivka and one person each from Lyman and Oleksiyevo-Druzhkivka.

A police officer helps an elderly Kyiv woman living in a building that was hit by a Russian strike on the night of December 23, 2025

In the Zhytomyr and Kyiv regions, Russians injured three civilians each with their strikes. Kyiv was also under Russian attack, where five people were injured, including a child. 

Updated: The Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office reported on December 25 that the 48-year-old woman sustained shrapnel wounds to her head in the Sviatoshynskyi District as a result of a drone attack on Ukraine’s capital on December 23. She died after she was taken to the hospital in a critical condition.

The yard of a private house in the Donetsk region after a Russian strike on December 23, 2025

On December 23, Russia also struck Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, where an 85-year-old woman was injured. She was taken to the hospital, but details about her condition are not provided.

A car that burned down completely as a result of a Russian military airstrike on Zaporizhzhia, which injured four residents

On December 22, Russian military strikes injured more than two dozen Ukrainians. In total, over almost four years, Russian military shelling has officially killed more than 14,500 people in Ukraine.

 

Meanwhile, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on X that intelligence is recording growing links between Russia and entities in China that may be providing space-based intelligence, with these data being connected to Russian strikes on energy facilities in Ukraine.

 

By way of background, Ukrainian experts point out that countries including China, North Korea, Hungary, Slovakia, Iran, and Brazil assist Moscow in killing Ukrainians in its war against Ukraine by funding the Russian budget through trade.

 

Previously, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Ukraine would close its embassy in Cuba and downgrade ties over Havana’s complicity in Russian aggression.

 

Newly appointed Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Andriy Melnyk stated in an interview with Suspilne broadcaster that Brazil paid Russia almost $10 billion for 6.5 million tons of diesel.

 

Over the last three and a half years, China has become a critically important partner for the Russian Federation. While Beijing officially declares its neutrality, Western intelligence and analytical studies indicate otherwise. For instance, China does not supply weapons directly to Russia, but it provides critically important components, including machinery, microelectronics, specialized chemicals, optics, gunpowder, and ammunition components.

 

In 2024, then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that 70% of heavy industrial equipment and 90% of all microelectronics are sourced from China, which then flow into Russia.

 

Furthermore, according to recent NATO intelligence data, 80% of all Russian drones consist of Chinese parts.

 

According to The Telegraph newspaper, Chinese firms supplied sanctioned Russian companies with at least £47 million ($57.4 million USD) worth of parts between 2023 and 2024. Almost a quarter of the value of these supplies went to firms that produce Shahed-type drones. 

Moreover, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine stated that China is also providing intelligence to Russia. The Kremlin used this data to prepare missile strikes, particularly against objects belonging to foreign investors, though the specific targets were not clarified. China denies these accusations.

Following the imposition of Western sanctions, Beijing has become a key supplier to Russia of cars, clothing, raw materials, and a range of other goods. In 2023, Russia-China trade turnover set a historic record, exceeding $240 billion, which is more than 60% higher than before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Chinese customs data.

Reuters also reported that China is buying oil and gas from Russia. The average daily volume of oil is more than two million barrels per day. During Vladimir Putin’s visit to Beijing, the countries signed a document for the supply of 106 billion cubic meters of gas per year to China.

Stay connected via X and LinkedIn with ZMINA – and help build this platform with us by filling out our anonymous 5-minute survey here.