Ukraine claims to have shot down a series of Russian missiles

Russia launched eight ballistic missiles

Ukraine claims its air defence systems shot down a number of Russian missiles, but four people were reported injured in the Darnitskyi district, southeast of Kiev, after being hit by flying glass.

Sharing on Telegram, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that firefighters were dispatched to the Holosiivskyi district to extinguish a fire that broke out after a rocket fell on the roof of a residential building.

In recent weeks, airstrikes on Ukraine have been taking place almost nightly, with Russia mainly using Iranian-made Shahed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Ukrainians fear Russia is planning attacks on energy systems as winter approaches, as energy consumption rises due to cold weather.

Ukraine's air defense forces also said they shot down 18 Shahed UAVs launched by Russia last night targeting southern Ukraine.

Russia has not yet commented on the attacks.

FSB dismantles network planning assassinations in Crimea

On December 11, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had broken up a network of Ukrainian agents operating in Crimea who were involved in plots to assassinate pro-Russian figures.

According to the FSB, the targets of the Ukrainian agents were the Russian-appointed head of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov, and the pro-Russian former member of the Ukrainian parliament Oleg Tsaryov.

Mr Tsaryov survived being shot twice in an attack in October in Crimea, a peninsula that belonged to Ukraine but was annexed by Russia in 2014. At the time, a source in Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency told Reuters that the attack was carried out by the SBU.

According to the FSB, the Ukrainian special forces network in Crimea also intended to attack the peninsula's railway and energy infrastructure. The FSB added that it had found weapons and explosives caches and detained 18 "agents and accomplices of Ukrainian special forces."