White House Slams Kremlin's Christmas Day Attack, Pledges More Arms to Ukraine

U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday denounced Russia's large-scale Christmas Day attacks on Ukraine that damaged critical energy infrastructure and vowed to continue a U.S. surge in weapons deliveries" to Kyiv, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"In the early hours of Christmas, Russia launched waves of missiles and drones against Ukrainian cities and critical energy infrastructure. The purpose of this outrageous attack was to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardize the safety of its grid," Biden said in a statement.

At least one person in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region died and six others in Kharkiv were injured during the attacks, according to local officials.

"Let me be clear: the Ukrainian people deserve to live in peace and safety, and the United States and the international community must continue to stand with Ukraine until it triumphs over Russia’s aggression," Biden noted.

He went on to add,  "In recent months, the United States has provided Ukraine with hundreds of air defense missiles, and more are on the way. I have directed the Department of Defense to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine, and the United States will continue to work tirelessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in its defense against Russian forces"

President-elect Donald Trump's pick for special envoy for Ukraine and Russia also slammed the Russian military missile and drone attack on Christmas Day and said the U.S. is “more resolved than ever to bring peace to the region.”

“Christmas should be a time of peace, yet Ukraine was brutally attacked on Christmas Day,” Kellogg said Wednesday on a social media post “Launching large-scale missile and drone attacks on the day of the Lord’s birth is wrong. The world is closely watching actions on both sides. The U.S. is more resolved than ever to bring peace to the region,” he added.