In the first three days of 2025, Russian forces fired more than 300 drones and at least 20 missiles at villages and cities inside Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday, as the war rapidly approaches the three-year mark with no end in sight.
On Friday, Russia targeted a residential area near Chernihiv, about 90 miles north of Kyiv. A missile strike killed at least one person and injured several others. Ukrainian officials said the attack also caused heavy damage to several buildings in the area.
Mr. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian troops have managed to bring down “a significant” number of Russian missiles and drones by shooting them out of the sky or neutralizing them with electronic warfare.
“But, unfortunately, there were hits. There are wounded and dead,” Mr. Zelenskyy said Friday on his Telegram social media site. “My condolences to all the relatives and friends of the deceased.”
He said such “Russian terror” requires Ukrainian leaders and their international backers, led by the U.S., to ensure the country is well supplied with air defense and anti-missile weapons.
“We need to constantly increase the capacity of mobile fire groups. I am grateful for all the partners who help,” Mr. Zelenskyy said.
The Pentagon has confirmed that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will return to Ramstein, Germany on Tuesday for the 25th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the international coalition of dozens of countries that have promised to support Kyiv in its defense against Russian invaders.
“Together with defense ministers and military leaders from around the globe, Secretary Austin will focus on delivering practical support that reinforces Ukraine’s ability to defend itself today and deter aggression in the future,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters on Friday.
The contact group meeting will presumably be Mr. Austin’s last before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office on Jan. 20.
Ukrainians are bracing for a possible reduction in U.S. support under Mr. Trump, who has criticized the level of aid given to Kyiv and has said he will seek a quick end to the war. Kyiv has rejected peace deals that would leave as much as a fifth of its territory still under Russian control, but Mr. Zelenskyy expressed hope in an interview in Kyiv Thursday that the new U.S. president could be a catalyst for a better deal.
“The ’hot’ stage of the war can end quite quickly, if Trump is strong in his position,” Mr. Zelenskyy told a Ukrainian television interviewer. “I believe [Mr. Trump] is strong and unpredictable. I would very much like President Trump’s unpredictability to be directed primarily toward the Russian Federation.”
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.