Vladimir Putin has been accused by Kyiv of launching a series of “inhuman” strikes towards Ukraine’s energy grid on Christmas Day. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia sent more than 70 missiles and more than 100 drones across the country on December 25.

Russia launched aerial attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector “on a massive scale” overnight into Wednesday, local authorities said, with explosions reported across the country amid intensified bombardments that have left Ukraine in a precarious position while the war grinds into a third winter.

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he had asked the Defense Department to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine, after condemning Russia's Christmas Day attack on Ukraine's energy system and some of its cities.