Ukraine-Russia war – live: Moscow shelling kills four in Kherson as Kyiv marks first Christmas on December 25

An eight-year-old boy is among three children to have been rescued from occupied territories by the Ukrainian humanitarian NGO Save Ukraine, reports suggest.

“Three more children from the temporarily occupied territories were returned to the Save Ukraine team. Thus, we completed 14 rescue missions saving 14 children, seven of whom were children deprived of parental care,” the organisation’s head Mykola Kuleba said.

“For today, the Save Ukraine team has returned to Ukraine already 226 children who have been under the influence of Russian authorities since 24 February 2022.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has branded Russian troops “terrorists” following an attack on Kherson that left four dead and nine injured.

“The elimination of the consequences of Russian strikes on Kherson lasted all night. Terrorists deliberately target civilian infrastructure and ordinary streets,” Mr Zelensky said on X.

“I am grateful to everyone who is doing everything they can to make the Russian terrorists feel our Ukrainian response, a completely fair response to their attacks,” he added.

It comes after a child was killed along with three other civilians in strikes on Kherson Oblast over the last day, the region’s governor said.

Vladimir Putin may attack Europe in the winter of 2024 if the United States found itself “without a leader” following its presidential election, a European intelligence source claimed.

The source, cited by German newspaper Bild, said a potential Russian strike on Europe could occur within the transitionary period, dependent on President Joe Biden not securing re-election in the 2024 US presidential election.

Throughout his campaign for the presidency, former President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised the level of aid President Joe Biden’s administration provides to Kyiv.

The Russian death toll has reached just over 350,000 since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kyiv has claimed.

According to their estimates, Russia has also lost 5,858 tanks, 10,888 armored fighting vehicles and 8,314 artillery systems since 24 February 2022.

The figures, provided by Ukraine’s armed forces, have not been independently verified.

Ex-Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a bomb plot orchestrated by Vladimir Putin’s oldest ally, a Russian intelligence officer has claimed.

Mr Prigozhin, who was killed when his plane crashed over Russia on 23 August this year, launched a mutiny against the Russian ministry of defence in June following a long-running feud with officials over the direction of the war in Ukraine.

At the time, the Kremlin denied any involvement with his death and characterised western intelligence assessments of Putin’s culpability as an “absolute lie”.

A Russian intelligence officer has now said former KGB officer and long-time Putin ally Nikolai Patrushev personally oversaw the planning of the operation which involved planting a bomb under the wing of Prigozhin’s aircraft.

A child and three other civilians have been killed as nine others were injured in Russian attacks on Kherson Oblast over the last day, the region’s governor said.

Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said the region was attacked 88 times with targets including medical facilities, residential areas, and educational institutions.

Russia regularly attacks Kherson from the east of the Dnipro, after Ukrainian forces liberated the city in November 2022.

European countries are behind the curve on military production and capacity compared to Russia, Poland’s foreign minister warned.

“As the west, we are 20 times richer than Russia, but if Russia puts its economy on a wartime footing and we continue on a peacetime basis, they can outproduce us,” Radosław Sikorski said.

“Wars are not decided by tactical engagements but by industrial capacities, and we are behind the curve.”

Ukrainian refugees have expressed their shock at spending their second Christmas in the UK and shared their hopes for 2024, including overcoming the trauma of war and building better lives for their children.

Earlier this year, Ukraine officially changed the day it celebrates Christmas from the Orthodox Church date of January 7 – as is traditional in Russia – to December 25, in a government move designed to distance themselves from their invaders.

Ukrainians living in the UK have said the move makes “complete sense” and will match their government’s plans, while others said they plan to have two celebrations.

Danielle Desouza reports:

Russia launched 15 drones at Ukraine, mostly in the south of the country, overnight with air defences destroying 14 of them, Ukrainian military said on Sunday.

“As a result of air combat, Ukraine’s Air Force and defence forces destroyed 14 shaheds in Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and Khmelnytskyi regions,” the Ukrainian Air Force said on the Telegram messaging app.

The drones were launched from the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov in Russia, it said.

Reuters could not independently verify the report. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

No damage or casualties have been reported by military and civilian authorities.