Why Russia Launches Devastating Attack on Kyiv Ahead of Crucial Trump-Zelenskyy Meeting Russia unleashed a massive wave of missiles and drones on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, on December 27, 2025, injuring at least 19 people, including two children, and killing one person. The attack, which lasted nearly 10 hours, targeted energy facilities and civilian infrastructure, leaving thousands of homes without heat and electricity. The timing of the attack is seen as a response to ongoing peace efforts brokered by Washington, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy set to meet US President Donald Trump in Florida on December 28, 2025, to discuss a potential deal to end the nearly four-year war. Zelenskyy condemned the attack, stating that Russia's actions speak louder than words, and urged the US and Europe to apply more pressure on Moscow. The Ukrainian leader is expected to discuss security guarantees, territorial issues, and the fate of the Zapori...
A counter-terror expert has warned the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is attempting to misuse the Christmas market attack for their own ends - despite reports the suspect supported them.
Hans Jakob Schindler, senior director at the Counter Terrorism Project, said the party is trying to take advantage of the attack for electoral gain in February 2025.
The AfD and other far-right European politicians have been quick to jump on reports the suspect was an immigrant.
Yet he was allegedly an Islamophobe who voiced support on social media for the party - and for Elon Musk, who backed the AfD in response to the attack.
"Populism and facts rarely gel in any country so obviously the right wing is trying to take advantage of this," said Schindler.
"Despite him [the suspect] being a fan of the AfD, the AfD makes this into a cause that they try to misuse."
Parties interested in maintaining a democratic society must unite and be honest about what security failures occurred, as well as try to avoid exacerbating polarisation, he said.
"The extremists on either end of the political spectrum, as well as Russia, are doing this already."
Questions need to be answered by the government over warnings it received about the suspect from domestic and foreign sources, he said.
But social media organisations, specifically X, are not off the hook, he said, having cut their content moderation staff.
"They [German authorities] will never be able to police the entire internet. We need those companies to help the security forces [by] highlighting radicalisation processes that they enable with their algorithms, that lead to violence."
