Ukraine War: Russian drones strike injure eight in central market; village captured in east

Eight people were injured on Thursday as Russian drones struck a market in the Ukrainian town of Nikopol. The development came hours after a Christmas day attack against the energy system killed one person in the region. Moscow also claimed on Thursday that its troops had captured the village of Hihant in eastern Ukraine.

Dnipropetrovsk governor Serhiy Lysak wrote via Telegram that seven of the affected individuals had been hospitalised. The strike also damaged multiple stalls at the market. Meanwhile the Ukrainian military indicated on Thursday that it had shot down 20 drones out of 31 launched overnight by Russia. It also noted that 11 "imitator drones" failed to reach their targets due to active engagement from the military.

The Ukraine-Russia war crossed the 1000 day mark last month — with no definitive end in sight. Moscow has rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire by US President elect Donald Trump but remains open to negotiations for a ‘long-lasting peace agreement’.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted on Thursday that a ceasefire was essentially a “road no nowhere” which would help Ukraine bolster its military capacity.

“We need conclusive, legally-binding agreements which will create all the conditions for ensuring the security of the Russian Federation and, of course, the legitimate security interests of our neighbors,” he stressed during an online news conference.

Lavrov also warned that Russia would respond to recent Ukrainian attacks that hit civilian targets with Western missiles and drones. He insisted that Moscow only targetted only military facilities and infrastructure and that it was “not in our rules to strike civilian targets”. Local authorities said four people were killed and five people were injured in the town of Lgov after Ukrainian shelling earlier this week.

(With inputs from agencies)