500 Drones and a High-Stakes Flight: Zelenskyy Meets Trump Amidst Kyiv’s Darkest Night

Diplomatic hands are reaching out while missiles are raining down. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Florida to discuss a peace plan with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Russia unleashed one of its most intense aerial assaults of the war. On December 28, 2025, nearly 500 drones and 40 missiles targeted civilian and energy infrastructure across Ukraine, leaving over a million people without power.

A Nation in the Dark

The scale of the attack was massive. At least two people were killed in the Kyiv region, and 46 others were wounded, including children. Energy facilities were hit so hard that DTEK reported more than 1 million households lost electricity. With temperatures hovering around 0 degrees Celsius, deputy prime minister Oleksii Kuleba warned that over 40 percent of residential buildings in the capital were left without heat.

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Pre-Negotiation Pressure

Zelenskyy's trip included a stop in Halifax, Canada, where Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged $1.83bn in economic aid. European leaders, including Ursula von der Leyen and Emmanuel Macron, reinforced their "unfaltering" support. Meanwhile, the Kremlin claimed its forces captured five towns in the Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions. Vladimir Putin remarked that if Ukraine isn't ready for peace, Russia will achieve its goals "by force."