Ukraine delivers humiliating Christmas Day blow to Putin by recapturing key city
- - Ukraine delivers humiliating Christmas Day blow to Putin by recapturing key city
Jorge Fitz-GibbonDecember 25, 2025 at 9:45 PM
0
Ukraine dealt Russian dictator Vladimir Putin a humiliating Christmas Day blow when it routed Kremlin troops to wrest back control of its key eastern city of Kupyansk, a vital railroad hub, Kviv said.
The staggering setback for the Kremlin occurred as fighting continued between both sides for nearly the fourth straight year and a US-brokered peace plan remained stalled.
“Kypyansk currently has several dozen [Russian troops], they are surrendering, Viktor Trehubov, the spokesman for Ukraine’s Joint Forces, told the Kyiv Post on Thursday. “There have even been cases of foreigners — foreign mercenaries for the Russians — giving themselves up.
Russian troops bombed the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupyansk in 2023, with the two sides battling for control since. AFP via Getty Images
“Even Russian propagandists have switched to a line acknowledging that the city is no longer under their control,” Trehubov said. “In reality, it was never fully taken by them in order to be lost, aside from a short period in 2022.”
Adding insult to injury, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took a shot at Putin in a Christmas message to his countrymen, wishing, “May he perish.”
Russian military bloggers had already grown critical of Moscow’s recent claims of military gains in Kupyansk, charging that Kremlin brasshad “prematurely” moved troops from the city, “leaving the town vulnerable to Ukrainian infiltrations,” the Institute for the Study of War said this week.
Ukrainian forces prepare to tow a captured Russian tank during the nearly 4-year-old war. VASILIY ZHLOBSKY/EPA-EFE/Shutter
Putin’s embarrassing setback in Kupyansk came as the two sides exchanged a barrage of military drones over the holiday, with Russia launching more than 130 drones overnight.
The Russian attacks caused major power outages in Odesa, Ukraine’s most important port, and inflicted heavy damage in the city and surrounding areas, CNN reported Thursday.
Zelensky called the Russians “barbarians” for the attacks.
The Kremlin suffered a humiliating defeat Christmas Day, losing the city of Kupyansk to Ukrainian troops, Kyiv said. REUTERS
“Unfortunately, even on Christmas Eve and during Christmas night, the Russian army did not stop its brutal strikes against Ukraine, targeting our energy system and our people,” he wrote on social media. “Sadly, we are dealing with barbarians who, in the end, do not even believe in God.”
In response, Ukraine stepped up its own drone strikes on Russia.
A Ukrainian “Storm Shadow” missile also struck a major Russian oil refinery in the Rostov region, one of the largest oil producers in southern Russia, media outlet France24 said Thursday.
The uptick in fighting comes as a peace plan brokered by President Trump remains at a standstill.
On Wednesday, Zelensky agreed to a plan to demilitarize about 30% of the Donbas region in easter Ukraine in an effort to move ahead with Trump’s 20-point plan to end the four-year-old war.
But Zelensky wants Russia to agree to put down its arms and embrace the entire US peace plan.
He said Thursday that he had a “very good” conversation on the peace process with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, according to CNN.
He said further discussions are planned.
“We believe this is the right approach,” Zelensky said. “Not to lose a single day or a single opportunity that can bring the result closer. May today’s conversation become another step toward peace.”
Maria Zakharova, a rep for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile said there had been “slow but steady” progress in the talks — while accusing the European Union of prolonging the conflict.
Putin insisted this week that Ukrainian troops need to leave the Donetsk region in order for the peace plan to proceed.
“We would prefer to do this and eliminate the root causes of the conflict through diplomacy,” he said at the annual Russian Defense Ministry meeting.
“If the opposing country and its foreign patrons refuse to engage in substantive discussions, Russia will achieve the liberation of its historical lands through military means.”
Source: “AOL General News”
