Sybiha on Russia's attack on Ukraine on Christmas night: No military purpose, only intended to kill

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has called on the world to strengthen Ukraine's air defense capabilities, as Russia continues to bomb Ukrainian cities.

Sybiha wrote about this on the social network X, Ukrinform reports.

Sybiha noted that Russia did not stop its brutal shelling of civilians in Ukraine even on Christmas night. As a result of strikes on Odesa, one person was killed and two others were injured. One civilian was killed each in the Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions. Civilians were also injured in Zaporizhzhia and Sumy regions.

"Odesa suffers the most these days. Russia deliberately destroys energy and civilian infrastructure, leaving people without power, water, and heating amid freezing temperatures. No military purpose—just Russia's intent to kill people because they are Ukrainians," he emphasized.

He added that such actions fall under Article II (c) of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide: "Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part."

"We urge the world to act, increase pressure on the aggressor, and strengthen Ukraine's means to defend itself and its people, including air defense," Sybiha stressed.

As Ukrinform reported, as of the morning of December 25, enemy strikes left consumers without power in four regions — Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk — while in Odesa region there were emergency power outages due to the consequences of previous attacks.