Shoppers killed as Russia bombs Kherson market 'for pleasure' on Christmas Eve

Turkey conceded Saturday that Russia's war on Ukraine "will not end easily", despite Ankara's repeated efforts to arrange peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow.

NATO member Turkey, which has friendly relations with both of its Black Sea neighbours, has positioned itself as a neutral player and tried to broker a truce.

But the continuing war, which entered its 10th month, is dashing Ankara's hopes.

"It appears that this war will not end easily," Defence Minister Hulusi Akar told journalists during a year-end briefing in the capital Ankara.

He pointed to Western support for Ukraine and Russia's statements that it would not give up for his reasoning.

New pictures are emerging form the scene of the bomb strike that hit the market in Kherson on Christmas Eve.

Some show paramedics treating the injured, while others show firefighters putting out various blazes.

Witnesses and survivors are seen in distress as bodies lie on the streets with blankets over them.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister, has asked people celebrating Christmas in the West to spare a thought for those who have been killed today in the centre of Kherson.

Posting a picture of a burned out car online, he said: "Christmas Eve. Russian terror strike on Kherson leads to multiple civilian casualties. While families in Europe, North America, and beyond prepare festive dinners, spare a thought for Ukraine which is fighting evil right now. We need your active and lasting support to prevail."

The death toll from the Christmas Eve strikes on central Kherson has risen to at least eight, according to the city prosecutor's office.

President Zelensky published a series of graphic images shortly after the blasts.

"This is not sensitive content - it's the real life of Kherson," he said. The images showed cars on fire, bodies on the street and building windows blown out.

Separately, the governor of the wider Kherson region reported that a further seven people were killed and 58 residents were injured in various strikes around the city, 18 of which are in serious condition.

Defence spending is set to increase by more than a billion pounds to avoid a real term cut over the next two years, The Telegraph revealed today.

The Treasury has accepted the argument that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) budget should not be falling relative to inflation while war rages in Ukraine.

Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, is expected to announce the increase in his Budget this spring. He did similar uplifts for education and NHS spending in the autumn.

Military experts estimate that to avoid real-term cuts the MoD budget in 2024/25 must rise from £‎48.6 billion to £50.1 billion, meaning an increase of at least around £‎1.5 billion is expected.

The announcement will be seen as something of a victory for Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, who has pushed hard for increased defence spending in the past year.

Read the full story here.

At least 20 people are said to be injured in the strike on central Kherson as more details emerge from the scene.

On the day marking ten months since the beginning of the war, a string of shelling rained down around a busy Saturday market, where a fire erupted.

AFP journalists at the scene saw several bodies laying on the ground, including a man killed in his car near the market.

Another man, whose car had been blown up, had severe head injuries.

"We know of at least five dead and 20 injured," the Deputy Head of Presidency Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram.

Despite Russia's retreat from the southern port city in November, Kherson remains within reach of Moscow's weaponry and under constant threat.

On December 15, Russian shelling killed two people including a Red Cross worker in Kherson and completely cut power in the southern city.

Iranian factories making drones and missiles for Russia should be "liquidated" and suppliers arrested, a top adviser to Ukraine's president has said as Kyiv accused Tehran of planning to supply more weapons.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an aide to Volodymyr Zelensky, said Iran "blatantly humiliates the institution of international sanctions", before calling for the destruction of Iranian weapon factories in response.

Kyiv has accused Tehran of supplying 1,700 Shahed-136 kamikaze drones to Moscow, which it says have been used to hit targets in Ukraine since September. Iran denies the allegations.

Ukraine's spy chief said in an interview released on Friday that Russia had already launched around 540 of the drones at military and energy targets in Ukraine. 

Russia can only sustain long-range missile attacks on Ukraine once a week as munitions supplies dwindle, the British Ministry of Defence estimates.

In its daily update the MoD also said Russia barely has enough short-range shells to hold its front line with Ukraine

The MoD said: "Russia has likely limited its long-range missile strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure to around once a week due to the limited availability of cruise missiles."

It added that Russia's limited artillery stockpile means that "large-scale offensive operations" are unlikely.

"A vulnerability of Russia’s current operational design is that even just sustaining defensive operations along its lengthy front line requires a significant daily expenditure of shells and rockets," the MoD said.

The United States on Friday derisively called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to acknowledge reality and pull troops from Ukraine after he finally called the conflict a "war."

Since Putin ordered the invasion in February, Russia has officially spoken of a "special military operation" and imposed a law that criminalizes what authorities call misleading terminology.

But at a news conference on Thursday, Putin himself used the word "war" as he said that he hoped to end it as soon as possible.

"Since February 24, the United States and rest of the world knew that Putin's 'special military operation' was an unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine. Finally, after 300 days, Putin called the war what it is," a State Department spokesperson said.

"As a next step in acknowledging reality, we urge him to end this war by withdrawing his forces from Ukraine.

A Russian court earlier this month sentenced an opposition politician, Ilya Yashin, to eight and a half years in prison under the new law over his "false information" about the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has sent Christmas wishes to the UK, as he thanked Rishi Sunak and the British public for their support in the country's fight against Russia.

Earlier, the Prime Minister had tweeted a short video with the message: "This Christmas, we're with you Ukraine."

Mr Zelensky tweeted back: "I'm grateful to Rishi Sunak and the entire British people! We feel your support. We feel the light and the warmth of your hearts.

"Light always prevails over darkness. Thus together, we will defeat evil and restore peace in Ukraine, Europe, and the world. Merry Christmas, friends!"

Mr Zelensky has returned to Kyiv after a short visit to Washington to meet US President Joe Biden and to call on American politicians to continue to rally behind Ukraine.

It comes as the Ukrainian people face their first Christmas since the Russian invasion, as both sides dig in for the winter.