Ukraine war briefing: Biden slams Russia’s ‘outrageous’ Christmas Day assault on Ukraine

Nato member Romania said it had not detected any Russian missile passing through its airspace to target Ukraine, as claimed by Kyiv. “The Romanian military authorities have been informed by the Ukrainian military authorities that, at around 7:30 am, a missile of the Russian Federation forces, which would have impacted in the Chernivtsi region of Ukraine, would have flown through the airspace of the Republic of Moldova and, for about two minutes, also through the airspace of Romania,” the defence ministry said.

A Russian cargo ship that sank on Tuesday in the Mediterranean Sea was the target of an “act of terrorism”, according to the vessel’s owner. The Ursa Major sank while it was sailing through international waters between Spain and Algeria, leaving two crew members missing. Its owner, Oboronlogistika – a company affiliated with the Russian defence ministry – described the incident as an “act of terrorism”, without specifying who might be responsible. The Ukrainian navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said Russia faced “systemic problems” in maintaining its fleet but gave no indication that Kyiv was involved in the incident.

Falling debris from a Ukrainian drone that was shot down caused an explosion and a fatal fire in a shopping centre in the city of Vladikavkaz in Russia’s North Ossetia region, the local governor said on Wednesday. Sergei Menyailo said on Telegram that air defence systems had shot down the drone. One woman was reported to have been killed inside the shopping centre.

Russia’s foreign ministry said Australia had been in contact about the possible capture by the Russian army of an Australian citizen fighting with Ukrainian forces. Oscar Jenkins was reportedly captured by Russian soldiers while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova confirmed Australian diplomats had been in contact about the possible capture.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a call with the Japanese prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, where he thanked Japan’s government for a decision to transfer an additional $3bn secured from frozen Russian assets. The Ukrainian leader also thanked Japan for the total $12bn in humanitarian and financial aid provided to Ukraine, according to a readout of the Wednesday call.