President Joe Biden announced on Christmas Day that he has directed the Pentagon to continue its “surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine,” responding to a series of Russian air attacks on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure that took place early Christmas morning.
“The purpose of this outrageous attack was to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardize the safety of its grid,” Biden said in a statement.
“Let me be clear: the Ukrainian people deserve to live in peace and safety, and the United States and the international community must continue to stand with Ukraine until it triumphs over Russia’s aggression.”
Biden reaffirmed that the United States will “continue to work tirelessly” to support Ukraine in its resistance against Russian forces.
Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 78 air and ground missiles as well as 106 Shahed drones in an early morning assault, targeting critical equipment in Ukraine’s power grid and causing widespread outages on Christmas Day.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack as “inhumane.” He noted that Ukrainian defense forces shot down “more than 50 missiles and a significant number of drones” but acknowledged ongoing power outages across several regions. “Russian evil will not break Ukraine and will not spoil Christmas,” Zelenskyy said.
The strikes left at least six people wounded in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and resulted in one fatality in the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to local governors.
While Christmas in Ukraine was historically celebrated on Jan. 7 in line with Orthodox Christian tradition, most Ukrainians transitioned to observing the holiday on Dec. 25 beginning in 2023, aligning with Western practice.
Nearly three years into the war, the United States has provided $175 billion in aid to Ukraine.
President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on Jan. 20, has expressed his intention to bring the conflict to a swift end. Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s nominee for special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, condemned the Christmas Day assault.
“Christmas should be a time of peace, yet Ukraine was brutally attacked on Christmas Day,” Kellogg wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “Launching large-scale missile and drone attacks on the day of the Lord’s birth is wrong. The world is closely watching actions on both sides. The U.S. is more resolved than ever to bring peace to the region.”
