Russia’s Gazprom said that it would send 42.4 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday, up from 42.1 mcm on Monday.

The slight uptick in distribution comes after Zelensky said he would not allow contracts for gas exports which flow from Russia to Europe through Ukraine to be renewed.

In reaction to the announcement, Slovakia PM Robert Fico met with Putin on Monday for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Gazprom’s exports to Europe and beyond decreased sharply following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, dropping by 90 billion cubic metres (bcm) in a single year to 63.8 billion over the year.

This dropped again in 2023 to 28.3 bcm, and is estimated to reach 32 bcm overall for 2024.

However, these figures are all staggeringly low compared to Gazprom’s pre-war exports, with the 2018/19 peak of 180 bmc remaining far out of reach.

Ukraine has successfully mounted its first robot-only assault against Russia, its the military says, as unmanned vehicles pushed back Moscow’s forces over the weekend.

In a display of modern warfare, Kyiv used dozens of remote-controlled vehicles mounted with machine guns, as well as unmanned kamikaze drones, in a raid near the Ukrainian-held town of Lyptsi, the Ukrainian military said.

Volodymyr Dehtiarov, a representative for Ukraine’s Khartiia Brigade, said: “We are talking about dozens of units of robotic and unmanned equipment simultaneously on a small section of the front.”

The assault took place between Russian-held Hlyboke and Ukrainian-held Lyptsi, in the Kharkiv region near Ukraine’s north-western border.

Kyiv has struggled with a shortage of manpower as the fight against invadin Russian troops continues into 2025. Ukranian officials have said the nation’s military consists of around 800,000 while Russia has committed 1.7 million troops to its war so far.

Modern assaults such as Ukraine’s robot only attack may prove to be crucial in the coming year as the officials look to tackle the imbalance of troops.

Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico has drawn criticism from the European community and Slovakian citizens after he met face-to-face with Vladimir Putin the day before Christmas Eve (23 December).

Mr Fico became only the third European leader to visit the Russian president in Moscow since its invasion of Ukraine was ordered in February 2022.

The pair discussed “the international situation” and the delivery of Russian natural gas, according to the Kremlin.

Mr Fico says his visit was a reaction to Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky’s announcement that he would no longer allow Russian natural gas to flow to other European countries through pipes in Ukrainian soil.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry slammed the “weakness, dependence and short-sightedness” of Mr Fico’s energy policy in a statement, calling it a “threat to the whole of Europe.”

Meanwhile, protests have taken place in Bratislavia, Slovakia’s capital, as citizens show their support for Ukraine and disappointment at Mr Fico’s meeting.

President Joe Biden has said he asked the US Defense Department to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine after condemning Russia’s Christmas Day attack against some of Ukraine’s cities and its energy system.

“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.

Russia attacked Ukraine’s energy system and some cities with cruise and ballistic missiles plus drones on Wednesday, Ukraine said. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Washington has committed $175 billion in aid for Ukraine.

Europe’s frontline countries remain adamant that Vladimir Putin must not be rewarded for his invasion of Ukraine, and that the safety of the continent relies on Ukraine’s success.

“To be very frank, when Russia is fighting with Ukraine and Russia is defeated in Ukraine, there is no need to ask who is next,” Estonian prime minister Kristen Michal told The Independent.

“If we allow Russia as a regime, as a thug, as a bully, to take something by force, and after that, we say, yes, let’s agree that half of what is taken is theirs, then that would be a very bad message for the future of the democratic world.”

In the forests near Kharkiv, Askold Krushelnycky speaks to soldiers spending Christmas fighting a hi-tech battle against Vladimir Putin’s forces

Nato is “not ready” to fight against Vladimir Putin’s Russia without the US, the leaders of the alliance’s three frontline states have told The Independent, as they called on allies to drastically increase defence spending.

In the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, the leaders of Latvia, Estonia and Finland have urged the alliance to stop “endlessly debating” how to cope with the looming threat of Russia, saying it is time to bolster Europe’s defences.

“We are not ready. That’s absolutely clear,” says Latvia president Edgars Rinkevics. “We can’t keep simply hoping for a situation where the US remains much involved in Europe.”

“We have to ramp up our defence capabilities,” Estonian prime minister Kristen Michal adds, “because of Russia’s threat, and its inability to be a democracy and operate in a rule-based world”.

Tom Watling and Millie Cooke have the exclusive report:

A large-scale Russian missile and drone attack targeting Ukraine’s energy system on Christmas Day has been condemned as “inhumane” by president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Half a million people were left without heating in Kharkiv in temperatures just a few degrees above freezing, as blackouts were reported in Kyiv and other regions.

At least one person was killed and six others wounded in the attack, described by one Ukrainian energy chief as Vladimir Putin’s “state-sponsored terrorism”.

You can read the full report on today’s events below: