M055-UCRANIA ATAQUES KIEV

At least five people were injured after a Russian drone strike damaged several residential apartments in Kyiv on Tuesday (December 23), Ukraine's state emergency service said.

Residents gathered near a five-storey apartment building hit in the attack. Among them was Andrii Stets, a 35-year-old security guard and father of three, standing with his wife, who was rocking a baby stroller.

Stets said he was heading to work when he saw a Shahed drone overhead, then ran back to find his apartment destroyed, not knowing what to do next.

Russia's missile and drone attack on at least 13 regions killed three Ukrainians including a child, triggering widespread emergency power cuts.

The attacks, days after another round of U.S.-led talks to end the nearly four-year-old war, hit energy facilities in western regions the hardest, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had targeted Ukraine as people prepared to celebrate Christmas, adding he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin was not serious about peace talks.

A day earlier, Zelenskiy had warned Ukrainians that Russia might strike the country over the Christmas holidays.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

DAMAGED RESIDENTIAL APARTMENT / PEOPLE COMMENTING ON ATTACK / KYIV SKYLINE / AUDIO OF AIR RAID ALERT

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: KYIV, UKRAINE (DECEMBER 23, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICERS STANDING BEHIND POLICE CORDON IN FRONT OF DAMAGED RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

2. VARIOUS OF DAMAGED BUILDING

3. 35-YEAR-OLD SECURITY GUARD AND FATHER OF THREE, ANDRII STETS, STANDING WITH HIS WIFE WITH STROLLER / OTHER WOMAN TALKING TO STETS

4. STETS WITH HIS WIFE

5. STETS AND HIS WIFE WITH BABY STROLLER

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) 35-YEAR-OLD SECURITY GUARD AND FATHER OF THREE, ANDRII STETS, SAYING:

"My morning started in the shelter, and then I got ready for work. At the moment I got on the bus, I saw the Shahed drone flying above my head. It flew over me at the 'Mriya' bus stop. Then I heard a loud crack of wood and it detonated."

7. WORKERS STANDING IN FRONT OF DAMAGED RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

8. WORKERS WALKING ON DAMAGED ROOF

9. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) 35-YEAR-OLD SECURITY GUARD AND FATHER OF THREE, ANDRII STETS, SAYING:

"I ran back to the flat and I saw what happened. The flat was destroyed inside. All the furniture was damaged."

10. STETS SHOWING ON PHONE HIS VIDEO OF DAMAGED APARTMENT AFTER ATTACK

11. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) 35-YEAR-OLD SECURITY GUARD AND FATHER OF THREE, ANDRII STETS, SAYING:

"We have three children: a 13-year-old, an 11-year-old and a three-month-old baby. I don't know what to do next. I don't understand anything yet."

12. POLICE OFFICER STANDING IN FRONT OF DAMAGED APARTMENT BUILDING

13. VARIOUS OF DAMAGED BALCONIES

14. PEOPLE IN FRONT OF BUILDING

15. 55-YEAR-OLD TEACHER AT MUSIC SCHOOL, NATALIIA VIZEREVA, STANDING WITH DAUGHTER

16. VIZEREVA'S CAT IN BAG

17. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) 55-YEAR-OLD TEACHER AT MUSIC SCHOOL, NATALIIA VIZEREVA, SAYING:

"We understood that (the drone) was flying towards us. I heard this for the first time. And we didn't even have time to process it. The blow was so hard that everything fell apart."

18. VIZEREVA STANDING WITH DAUGHTER

19. VIZEREVA'S CAT IN BAG

20. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) 55-YEAR-OLD TEACHER AT MUSIC SCHOOL, NATALIIA VIZEREVA, SAYING:

"When we were told to leave the place, we put our cats in carriers, got dressed quickly and rushed out."

21. VIZEREVA WITH FAMILY

22. CAT IN CARRIER

23. VARIOUS OF DAMAGED RESIDENTIAL APARTMENT

24. VARIOUS OF LOCAL RESIDENT, KATERYNA (NO SURNAME GIVEN), STANDING WITH BAGS IN FRONT OF DAMAGED RESIDENTIAL APARTMENT

25. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) LOCAL RESIDENT, KATERYNA (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING:

"During the explosion, my husband and I were in the corridor. That's probably what saved us."

26. KATERYNA'S BAGS

27. VEHICLES NEAR DAMAGED RESIDENTIAL APARTMENT