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Two Russo-Ukrainian war stories from 31 December 2025
Summary
A look back at a US sanctions licence for a Serbian refinery and a deadly drone strike in occupied Kherson Oblast.
What did the final day of 2025 show about how far the Russo-Ukrainian war reached? On 31 December 2025, two separate reports pointed to its military and economic dimensions.
In occupied Kherson Oblast, Russian authorities reported that at least 24 people were killed, including a child, and dozens more injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on a hotel and a restaurant in Khorly. The figures came from Russian authorities.
Far from the front line, the United States issued a temporary licence allowing Serbia's majority-Russian-owned Naftna Industrija Srbije to resume refinery operations until 23 January. The licence was granted despite sanctions linked to the war.
The two reports were unconnected, but both showed the war's effects on 31 December 2025: one in the casualty figures from Khorly, the other in a time-limited permission for a refinery in Serbia.
