Russia-Ukraine War: List of Key Events, Day 1,403 | Russia-Ukraine War

These are the main developments of the 1,403rd day of the Russian war against Ukraine.

Here’s where things stand on Sunday, December 28:

Struggle

• At least two people were killed in the Ukrainian capital kyiv and the surrounding region after Russian forces launched a massive attack with hundreds of missiles and drones, ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s meeting with US President Donald Trump to hammer out a plan to end nearly four years of war.
• The attack also injured at least 46 people, including two children, according to Ukrainian officials.
• Zelensky, who was on his way to meet Trump in Florida, said Russia had launched nearly 500 drones and 40 missiles, targeting energy and civilian infrastructure.
• Ukraine’s state grid operator Ukrenergo said energy facilities across Ukraine were affected and emergency power cuts were implemented in the capital. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said the attack left more than a million homes in and around kyiv without power.
• Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said more than 40% of residential buildings in kyiv were left without heat, with temperatures hovering around 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) after the attack.
• The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency said in a statement on X that airports in Rzeszow and Lublin, in the country’s southeastern region, had been temporarily closed following Russian strikes on Ukraine. The operational command of the Polish Armed Forces said Polish and allied jets were deployed during the attack, but no violations of Polish airspace were reported.
• In Russia, air defense forces shot down 11 drones heading toward the capital Moscow, according to the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin.
• Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said Moscow’s Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo airports had imposed temporary airspace restrictions over security concerns.
• The Russian Defense Ministry also said its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed more than 100 Ukrainian drones in three hours over six other Russian regions.
• Russian commanders told President Vladimir Putin that Moscow’s forces had captured the Ukrainian towns of Myrnohrad, Rodynske and Artemivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, as well as Huliaipole and Stepnohirsk in the Zaporizhia region, the Kremlin and Russian news agencies said on Telegram.
• But the Ukrainian military said in its daily battlefield report that its forces had repelled Russian attempts to advance in the vicinity of Myrnohrad and Huliaipole.

Politics and diplomacy

• Zelensky announced in a Telegram message that he would speak with European leaders after his meeting with Trump Sunday, as kyiv pushes for a stronger position in ongoing ceasefire negotiations to prevent Russia from prolonging the war in Ukraine.
• Zelensky wants to talk with Trump territorial issuesthe main stumbling block in negotiations to end the war, as a 20-point peace framework and security guarantee agreement are close to being concluded.
• On his way to the meeting in Florida, Zelensky stopped in Halifax, Canada, to meet with Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister said in a statement after the meeting.
• Carney denounced the latest Russian attack as “barbarism,” stressing that it is important for allies “to stand with Ukraine during this difficult time.” He also announced an additional $1.83 billion in economic aid to Ukraine.
• Zelensky spoke with European leaders after the meeting with Carney. In a statement published on
• Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, which represents the bloc’s 27 member states, echoed von der Leyen’s pledge to continue supporting Ukraine, saying on X: “The EU’s support for Ukraine will not waver. In war, in peace, in reconstruction.”
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Zelensky had the “full support” of European leaders ahead of his talks with Trump. NATO and European Union leaders said they would work “in close coordination” with the United States “for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Merz added in a statement.
• French President Emmanuel Macron said in a call with Zelensky that the latest Russian strikes on kyiv showed that Moscow was not interested in ending the war, the AFP news agency reported, citing officials in Macron’s office. During the call, Macron highlighted what he called the “contrast” between “Ukraine’s desire to build a lasting peace and Russia’s determination to prolong the war it started,” according to the report.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia could see that kyiv was in no hurry to end the war by peaceful means, according to the Interfax news agency. Putin said that if Ukraine did not want to resolve the conflict peacefully, then Russia would achieve all the goals of its “special military operation” by force, Russia’s official TASS news agency reported.