4-year-old child among 3 killed as Russia fires 650 drones, 36 missiles at Ukraine

  Russia fired more than 650 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours on Tuesday, officials said. At least three people were killed, including a 4-year-old child. 

The barrage struck homes and the power grid in 13 regions of Ukraine, causing widespread outages in bitter temperatures, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, a day after he described recent progress on finding a peace deal "quite solid.” 

The bombardment demonstrated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention of prosecuting the invasion of Ukraine, Zelensky said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Ukrainian and European officials have complained that Putin is not sincerely engaging with US-led peace efforts. 

The attack "is an extremely clear signal of Russian priorities,” Zelensky said. "A strike before Christmas, when people want to be with their families, at home, in safety. A strike, in fact, in the midst of negotiations that are being conducted to end this war. Putin cannot accept the fact that we must stop killing.” 

US President Donald Trump has for months been pressing for a peace agreement, but the negotiations have become entangled in the very different demands from Moscow and Kyiv. 

US envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday he held "productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives. Trump was less effusive on Monday, saying, "The talks are going along.” 

Initial reports from Ukrainian emergency services said the toddler died in Ukraine’s northwestern Zhytomyr region, while a drone killed a woman in the Kyiv region, and another civilian death was recorded in the western Khmelnytskyi region, according to Zelensky. 

Authorities in the western regions of Rivne, Ternopil and Lviv, as well as the northern Sumy region, reported damage to energy infrastructure or power outages after the attack. 

In the southern Odesa region, Russia struck energy, port, transport, industrial and residential infrastructure, according to regional head Oleh Kiper. 

A merchant ship and over 120 homes were damaged, he said.

Associated Press