Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin shifts focus as missile strike kills 11, including 5 children

A Russian missile strike killed 11 people on Saturday in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, the governor of the Ukrainian-controlled part of Donetsk region said.

“Eleven dead, including five children – these are the consequences for now of strikes on Pokrovsk district,” Vadym Filashkin wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Pokrovsk lies in Ukrainian-held territory, about 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Donetsk, the Russian held centre of the region.

“The UK strongly condemns Russia’s decision to use ballistic missiles sourced from North Korea in recent attacks against Ukraine,” the UK’s foreign office spokesperson said in a statement.

“We urge North Korea to cease its arms supply to Russia,” the statement said.

The White House on Thursday confirmed North Korea’s shipment of ballistic missiles and launchers to Russia for use in invasion of Ukraine, citing newly declassified intelligence. Russia has fired some of these missiles into Ukraine.

A Russian missile strike in eastern Ukraine has killed 11 people, including five children, according to Ukrainian officials.

The eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk and nearby villages in Donetsk Oblast were hit with a barrage of S-300 missiles, destroying at least six houses, the head of Ukraine’s military administration for the region Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.

“As a result of this barbaric attack, 11 people died, including five children aged from three to 17 years,” Mr Filashkin said.

We have some more information on the purpose of the Japanese foreign minister’s, Yoko Kamikawa, trip to Kyiv.

The Japanese ministry said in a statement: “During the visit, Minister Kamikawa will once again reiterate to the Ukrainian side that Japan’s consistent policy of standing with and supporting Ukraine remains unchanged even in the face of the current severe international situation.

“Minister Kamikawa will consult with the partners on the Ukrainian side on how to scale up cooperation between the two.”

Ms Kamikawa will meet her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba during her trip.

The ministry also said Ms Kamikawa would directly convey to Ukraine that Japan will strongly demonstrate its commitment to the recovery and reconstruction of the country under public-private partnership through hosting the Japan-Ukraine conference in Japan on 19 February.

It also added that Kamikawa will convey Japan’s determination to uphold the international order based on the “rule of law” that unilateral changes to the status quo by force, such as Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, cannot be accepted.

The Japanese foreign minister has arrived in Kyiv for a surprise visit.

Yoko Kamikawa arrived in the early hours of this morning, according to the embassy in Kyiv. It is her first visit abroad in 2024.

Immediately upon her arrival, she visited a memorial to the victims of the Russian occupation in Bucha, in the northern outskirts of Kyiv.

The region was run over by Russian forces in the first two months of the war, before Putin’s soldiers were forced to retreat.

President Vladimir Putin vowed on the eve of Orthodox Christmas to back soldiers who “with arms in hands” defend Russia’s interests, ordering his government greater support of those who fight and calling on his people to be merciful and just.

“Many of our men, our courageous, heroic guys, Russian warriors, even now, on this holiday, defend the interests of our country with arms in hand,” Putin said at a late Saturday meeting with families of Russian soldiers who have died in Ukraine.

State television footage showed the Russian leader attending with a small group of families of soldiers killed an intimate midnight service, known as the Divine Liturgy, later on Saturday at a chapel at his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow.

There was no call from Putin this year for a ceasefire in Ukraine to coincide with the holiday, which many Orthodox Christians celebrate on 6-7 January – as was the case a year ago.

Russia launched 28 attack drones and three cruise missiles at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force have said, adding that their air defence systems destroyed 21 of the drones.

The air force said on its Telegram messaging channel that Russia targeted mainly south and east of Ukraine, but it did not say what happened to the three cruise missiles that it says Russia had launched.

“The enemy is shifting the focus of attack to the frontline territories – Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk regions were attacked by drones,” Ukraine’s Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told national television.

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

Mr Ihnat said drones were predominantly destroyed by mobile teams, saving “scarce” air defence missiles.

He said Ukrainian forces used some missiles to repel two recent major Russian attacks but “processes are under way to continue to provide Ukraine with the number of missiles needed to repel air attacks”.

Russia had deployed almost 300 missiles and more than 200 drones in attacks in the last days of 2023 and the first days of 2024.

President Zelensky took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say that Russia’s frozen assets must be used to support Ukraine. He said that the allocation of $300 billion to Ukraine efforts would be an “entirely just and legitimate response”.

He said: “Russian assets currently frozen abroad total around $300 billion. They must be put to use in support of Ukraine.

“This is a historic opportunity to make the terrorist state pay for its terror. The Russian elite and leadership do not care about human lives, but they do care about money above all else.

“For them, losing assets will be the most painful loss. They will sense the true strength of the international community and see that the world is stronger than terror.

“The decision to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine will be an entirely just and legitimate response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. It will send the right message to all would-be aggressors around the world: attacking another state does not pay off; it makes the aggressor pay.

“I encourage partners to move quickly on relevant legal frameworks. This year, we must achieve tangible progress toward using frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine. We firmly rely on G7 leadership on this matter.”

The Government funding will support domestic production of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) – a fuel required by most advanced reactors and currently only commercially produced in Russia.

Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho said Britain’s HALEU programme could have the ability to supply the reactor fuel to the rest of the world and help to further isolate Moscow, which has faced heavy Western sanctions since invading its neighbour Ukraine in February 2022.

Ms Coutinho said: “We stood up to Putin on oil and gas and financial markets, we won’t let him hold us to ransom on nuclear fuel.”

Historically, most Ukrainians had celebrated Christian holidays according to the Julian calendar used by Eastern Orthodox churches, but since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 the country has accelerated its transition toward Western dates.