What the war's news looked like on 24 December 2024

What did the war look like in the days leading up to 24 December 2024? Reports from the preceding days showed strikes on both sides of the border and a new British proposal on training Ukrainian forces.

On 19 December 2024, British defence secretary John Healey announced a proposal to send military advisors to train Ukrainian forces. The proposal added to a record of British support for Ukraine that, as background to the period describes, spanned both Conservative and Labour governments.

On 20 December 2024, Russian missile strikes on civilian infrastructure in Kryvyi Rih and Kyiv killed at least one person and injured eight others. Kryvyi Rih had been hit repeatedly since the invasion began, by artillery fire and air raids.

The same day, a Ukrainian missile strike in Rylsk, in Russia's Kursk Oblast, killed six people and injured 10, according to acting Kursk Oblast governor Alexander Khinshtein. Russia said it would raise the matter at the United Nations Security Council.

On 21 December 2024, at least seven Ukrainian drones struck Kazan, Russia. Six of them reportedly hit residential areas, including a 32-storey apartment building.

Taken together, the reports from 19 to 21 December 2024 described civilian harm on both sides of the frontier, alongside diplomatic and military moves by Moscow and London.