joining us now, nbc's matt bradley in kyiv. matt, you are telling us thi yesterday. what are the lates deliberations, i guess if yo will if they're saying the church i saying yes please go ahead celebrate early. let's stand up against those who are attacking us >> [inaudible] >> looks like we're having som audio trouble, matt. if we can get you back shortly we will get you. matt bradley there in kyiv we're reporting on how ukrainians are celebrating christmas early in this becaus the orthodox church allowing that plus on the heels of yet mor missile attacks recently fro russia we'll get back to matt bradley if we can solve that issue related to his audio on to other news right now january six committee's fina report making it clear former president donald trump shoul never hold public office again the panel also making the case that trump is squarely to blam for the attack on the capitol. the committees were conclude the quote central cause of january six was one man, forme president donald trump many others followed none of the events of januar six would've happened

our matt bradley reports, but first, a warning that some of the images are disturbing >> tonight's ukraine'shristmas in russia's crosshairs after air strikes hit the southern ukrainian city of kherson killing ten people and wounding dozens more a civilian was here said this soldier. the car burned down. the attack coming six weeks after ukraine's military liberated the city from russian occupation and a day after president volodymyr zelenskyy -- said russia could exploit the festive season the president warning of a cold, dark christmas after relentless russian attacks on ukrainian power infrastructure. >> we will celebrate christmas, maybe candle lit because there will not be -- there will be no electricity. >> on the front lines, army clerics are keeping the season, but even as the fighting rages on the front lines here in kyiv, christmas is an act of defiance just like president zelenskyy told congress, leslie and her family are eating christmas eve dinner by candlelight, cooking over a gas camping stove. >> are you celebrating christmas in spite of putin? >> i would say yes because, you

matt bradley, nbc news, kyiv >>> now to some wild video showing a close call, very close between u.s. and chinese military planes over the south china sea, the u.s. says a chinese navy fighter jet came within 10 feet risking a collision. josh lederman with that video and this story >> reporter: the u.s. military says the american plane was in international air space conducting routine patrols, look at how close the chinese plane gets, placing itself about 10 feet away and then drifting forward to the american plane forcing to descend to avoid a crash. >> what message are the chinese trying to send us? >> the chinese are demonstrating that the western pacific as a chinese lake, they'll continue to expand and they don't want any interference from anybody else >> reporter: u.s. officials have been warning about increasingly dangerous behavior by chinese pilots saying a major incident is only a matter of time defense secretary lloyd austin raised concerns about it just last month with china's defense minister >> the united states will continue to fly, to sail and to operate wherever inter

matt bradley now with a special visit from st.ght of bombings inl■ ukraine, but that hasn't stopped st. nicholas, ukraine's version of santa claus, from making a very special visit to the country's largest children's hospital. >> even this night they are experiencing the night when st. nicholas should be bringing presents. the night has brought explosions to them. >> reporter: for the children here, there are constant reminders of the fighting outside, and instead of visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads, their minds are filled with visions of war. ♪ today's celebrations, a much-needed escape. >> it's really good impact on their psychological state. >> reporter: then this happens. the lights go out. ♪ so this performance of the national anthem is lit by battery power the air raid siren sounds again 7-year-old daniel was injured in russian attacks. how long do you think you're going to have to walk with a cane? "i'm waiting for the doctors to say i can walk again without it," he told me, but his doctor told me daniel can wa

matt bradley, nbc news kyiv >>> now to the story of two real-life superheroes spreading more than just good cheer. traveling across the country to help those most in need. here is steve patterson. >> all right, let's do it. >> reporter: santa might have that magic sleigh, but all yuri and rodney need is a cargo van, loaded up with gifts just like jolly st. nick, the pair travels an incredible distance to deliver christmas magic. >> our favorite super heroes. >> reporter: that's yuri williams the storm trooper with rodney smith the elf, hoping to spread some christmas cheer to families who could use a little. in the past four years, this dynamic duo has crisscrossed the country, visiting families in all 50 states. a 17,000 mile journey in less than a month from kentucky to california, oregon to new jersey, where the guys are bringing joy to jaden, suffering from severe seizures, and arianna, struggling with a degenerative brain disease >> how you >> i'm happy. >> reporter: for yuri, it's a familiar pain. >> just hearing a mother's love remind me -- of my mom, you know while we were cudd

matt bradley, nbc news, kyiv, ukraine. >>> coming up, his name is synonymous with soccer, but he was much more than just the greatest player of all time. we look back on the fantastic life of pele, who passed away today, next. >>> and at this hour, we're seeing steady rain on stormranger moving across the bay area right now, and the prospects of gusty wind and much heavier rain arriving in time for the start of the weekend. we'll have a we'll have a sosometimes a a cough isn't just a c cough, sosometimes a a cough soso it's s better sosometimes a a cough to b be prepareded. bibinaxnow™™ gives youou rereliable resesults in 1515 mis bibinaxnow™™ gives youou anand detects s multiple v vars bibinaxnow™™ gives youou includuding omicroron ba.5. bibinaxnow™™ gives youou bibinaxnow™™ the #1 covovid-19 selflf t bibinaxnow™™ in the u us i haveve somethingng for you. ♪ hi ♪ i haveve somethingng for you t. ♪ ♪ ♪ just annnnounced in n time for r the holidaday, get t 1.9 % aprr for 5 yeyears on allll 20-2 just annnnounced in n time for r the holidaday, gmc c sierra lilight duty c crew cab momod. j

>> it was an excellent report by matt bradley.sians no longer have the ground offensive capability to change the course of the war. putin has run out of ideas. his major focus now clearly is on savaging ukrainian civilian populations. he will continue to do, because there's no price to be paid. there's no offensive technology in the hands of the ukrainians that can get at russian bombers firing cruise missiles from out over the black sea, from the caspian sea, from russian airspace. that's the challenge. i think, again, as we look forward on how to deal with this, it's not just a patriot missile battery, but ukraine needs a counteroffensive technology to go after deeper targets. without which, they will continue their current course of action, savaging the civilian population. >> let's talk about that a little deeper. ukraine's military said it shot down 54 out of the 69 launched. the biden administration promising additional support, incluing the patriot missile system. give me your assessment. you said more is needed? >> i was a

joining me now, nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley and admiral. what's the reaction been on the ground in ukraine in his speech to the u.s.? >> what we're hearing here is gratitude. it's exactly mirroring the same message that president zelenskyy delivered to congress and to the american people and really to the whole world in that speech. gratitude for all of the money and weapons that the u.s. has provided and will be providing and also tinged with more requests. just as president zelenskyy did saying thank you, but also asking for more. and one of the things that they're asking for, they got the patriot missiles. they're defensive weapons. that's important. while the ukrainians have been asking for those since the beginning of the war since before the russian invasion began, they want more offensive we said. when you speak to ukrainians, they don't make a distinction between offensive and defensive because they say that any offensive weapons used by the ukrainians are fundamentally defensive because they say they were the ones who were attacked

matt bradley joins us live from kyiv with the latest. matt?porter: that's right, jonathan, kherson has endured relentless attacks all week. this morning kherson under fire once again. only weeks ago, these civilians were welcoming ukrainian liberators, now new russian bombardments tuesday have sent them fleeing. russian artillery attacks on christmas eve killed 11 people according to the region's governor. this woman's son is dead. [ speaking in non-english ] >> reporter: i urged him to wake up and leave the house, but he didn't and that was it. our lives are ruined. the fiercest battles are in the east. among ukraine's longest battles so far. [ speaking in non-english ] >> reporter: areas in donbas require maximum strength and concentration now. the situation there is difficult and painful. the constant drum beat of war a routine rhythm for many. [ speaking in non-english ] >> reporter: you get used to it said this man. you don't even look at what is happening. that's where we are now. still, i want to live a normal life. after five months of

much of the world celebrate on december 25th, so we will a well nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradleye on thi new christmas tradition from kyiv >> this orthodox christmas mas might look and sound like th thousand years old, but on thing about it is very new [crowd chanting] this is the first time st. michaels monastery in kyiv i celebrating christmas mount on december 25th, the dat celebrated on the west as well as january 7th, when most russians celebrated >> isn't going to church o december 25th, isn't that an act of defiance? isn't that saying i am ukrainian? i think for many people, i will be a chance to demonstrat there will to be a part of european civilization. we are europeans we choose this civilization. >> it's more than a war over christmas. it's a fight between two churches with almost identical names and theologies clerics like this man insist that ukrainian patriots, eve if they still keep christmas o january 7th. >> [interpreter] it's been suggested to chang the calendar according t political slogans. we support all the patriotic moves. at the same time, serve ou right

nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley has the latest. >> reporter: in a state-run tv interview released sunday afternoon, russian president vladimir putin saying russia is ready for talks to end the war in ukraine it's not the first time putin has offered to negotiate and ukrainian officials have already dismissed the offer as not serious. his offer comes as russia's attacks on ukraine continued on christmas day. after air strikes at the southern ukrainian city of kherson on christmas over, killing 10 people and wounding 55 more. ukraine's president urging his people to keep the faith "we will celebrate our holidays asalways and smile and be happy. this family is doing just that, cooking over gas camping stove are you celebrating christmas in spite of putin >> i would say yes he wants to ruin our holidays, so some holidays at least for us just like kherson. >> reporter: from the front lines to the home front, christmas carries on russian bombs leveled this house outside kyiv last christmas at this time you were making christmas dinner here "yes, we were decorating the christmas

matt bradley joins us from a bunker in kyiv. what has been going on there this morning? >> i would normally come to you with more of a polished, see a background. we are in this bunker. it's really just the parking garage beneath our hotel. i can show you a little bit about how it looks out here. the hotel has very kindly set everything up for everyone. this just keeps happening over and over again. all the guests are down here. almost all the guests at this hotel are journalists who are covering the war. one of those journalists, a japanese journalist, was one of those that you mentioned who was injured. this is the third straight day of massive bombardments that we can see by the russians against kyiv. it kind of fulfills a prediction, a warning that the ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy gave around christmas time. russia is going to punish ukraine in the lead up to the new year. that's exactly what we are seeing. we saw three waves of projectiles or self exploding drones. we saw those flying all over the country. people capture those images and videos. this was

with us now to talk about this is nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley in kyiv and retired generalwhat is the president of ukraine facing now that he's back at home? >> reporter: after that victory lap in washington, he has a host of problems he's going to be confronting here in kyiv. one of the main ones was something that he alluded to in his speech to washington, and that's blackouts. russia has been targeting civilian infrastructure and more than anything the electricity infrastructure. as he mentioned, a lot of ukrainians here, they're going to be having christmas by candle light and not because it's romantic, because there are rolling blackouts throughout this country. also in the east of the country, the battle lines are essentially frozen and about to be freezing in the coming weeks. that's why this fight really does need a game changer. president zelenskyy got a lot of stuff on his christmas list, mainly the patriots that are going to be so effective in shooting down missiles, targeting that civilian infrastructure that's been so critical to the lives and livelihoods of pe

let's bring in matt bradley live in kyiv for us.situation on the eastern front with the donbas region. >> reporter: we heard from the government that actually the ukrainians defense is quite successful. they had taken down 54 of the 69 missiles that the russians launched across this country. now that sounds like a remarkable rate. that's like 75 to 80% of those missiles shot down. that's consistent with what ukrainians have been doing for the past several months. but you mentioned that eastern donbas region. that's a critical and important part of this. the russians have not been making any advances on the battlefield. ukrainians haven't made many advances for the past several weeks burks the russians haven't made any victories since about june. and that's one of the reasons why when we hear from the government, they say the missile barrages coming regular ri up until now, they are really attributed to the fact that the russians are frustrated on the front lines. and that's another thing we're seeing nearby in crimea. that's another

nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley has details. >> reporter: rockets have returned to ukraine in one of the largest assaults on civilian targets since the war began more than ten months ago, 69 missiles aimed mostly at russia's preferred civilian targets, electric infrastructure. like this facility in the eastern city of kharkiv that burned for hours. the barrage left the country in darkness. 40% of kyiv was without power, according to its mayor. the attack looked like retribution. coming only days after our ukrainian air base struck a base deep inside russia. ukraine's service men said it shot down all of the 16 missiles that russia fired at the capital, kyiv. but this damage shows, even an intercepted missile can rain down ruin on civilians. the strike injured three people in kyiv, including a 14-year-old girl. just look at this crater. there was an elderly man and his son in this house when it was hit and incredibly, they made it out alive. lenoid landslide in this has home for 40 years. are you angry about this? are you sad? what else can i feel now? i would say, it's not

matt bradley is on the ground for us in kyiv. matt? >> that's right.rson have endured relentless attacks over the past weekend. two dozen attacks overnight and dozens more earlier in the week. here's our report. >> reporter: ukraine's southern city of kherson under fire again. only weeks ago, these civilians were welcoming ukrainian liberators, now new russian bombardments including a maternity ward on tuesday has sent them fleeing. russian artillery attacks on christmas eve killed 11 people. this woman's son is among the dead. i urged him to wake up and leave the house but he didn't and that was it, she said. our lives are ruined. but the fiercest battles are in the east like bakhmut. among ukraine's longest battles, a violent crucible for the wider war. other areas in donbas require maximum strength and concentration now ukraine's president said. the situation there is difficult and painful. the constant drumbeat of war now a routine rhythm for many. you kind of get used to it, said this man. you don't even look or listen carefully to what is happeni

i want to bring in matt bradley, live from kyiv this morning. ersecretary for public diplomacy under then president obama. matt, let me start with you and the latest on the ground in ukraine. what's it like >> reporter: yeah. well, this fighting did not take a break over christmas, hallie we just heard yesterday that the russians were dumb belling the eastern front and the southern front all day over christmas just this morning, actually we heard from the russians. they said three soldiers were killed when a ukrainian drone attacked inside. it's not the first time that's happened this christmas has been a big one and sad for for a lot of ukrainians in a state-run tv interview released sunday afternoon, russian president vladimir putin saying russia is ready for talks to end the war in ukraine. it's not the first time putin has offered to negotiate and ukrainian officials have already dismissed the offer as not serious. russia's attacks on ukraine continued christmas day. after air strikes hit the southern ukrainian city of kherson christmas eve,

so a lot to talk about joining us is matt bradley along with commander of nato and chief international good to have you here. matt, there's a lot of folks still in the dark, still in the cold, still with unbearable conditions, frankly, following all these russian attacks on the power grid what's the situation on the ground right now give us an update. >> reporter: the situation on the ground is mostly focused on the fight ing in the east of the country. we heard that from volodymyr zelenskyy, when he made that historic trip to washington a couple days ago. he mentioned that just before that trip, he had been in the city where there's been fierce fugting and actually some rare but very small russian gains on the ground the battle lines have been stagnant for the better part of the past two months. but a lot of the fighting now is just a little bit more in a city where the ukrainians have been making gains yesterday morning we were hearing rumors that the city occupied by the russians had fallen to the ukrainians that turned out not to be the case it looks as though ukraines are? strikin

joining us now live from kyiv is matt bradley. also joining us is former united states ambassador to ukraine william taylor. >> reporter: yesterday we heard there were 40% of households that didn't have power. we don't know what the situation is there, but over the past couple weeks, the ukrainians have gotten very good at turning the lights back on. and right now, we're still seeing some rolling blackouts, but the lights seem to be back on. we have been driving around the capitol today and things seem to be working more or less, but there's a lot of challenges. the russians showed this morning that they are not done with bombarding kyiv and the rest of this country. yesterday you mentioned 70 projectiles launched by the russians at targets nationwide. most of them were shot down. those 16 that you mentioned, those 16 self-exploding drones that the ukrainianss say were provided to the russians by the iranians all of those were shot down before they struck their targets. but the fact is that a drone that's been intercepted or a mis

>> okay, thank you so much for that, matt bradley. that. >>> joining us now to talk about these attacks in ukraine, we have associate editor of "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst david ignatius. always good to talk to you. russia continues to hit these critical infrastructure areas and they're doing it with the help of drones. how critical is the biden administration's efforts to stop iran from providing drones to russia? >> so, alex, the new reports of u.s. efforts to tackle that problem of the iranian drones, seemingly endless supply that russia's been getting from iran by finding ways to sanction iran, to cut off the supply, also the reports of conversations between the white house and israeli national security officials to see if we can -- if the u.s. can get israeli help to help ukraine defend itself. they know a lot about iranian drones obviously. would love to find ways to show that they're impotent in this conflict. i think there are efforts to target more precisely the efforts where these drones are being launc

let's bring in nbc news correspondent matt bradley.o take a look at this. what did you find out? >> that's right. for 30 years president obama lapd's strict antiabortion laws had already set the country apart from its neighbor, but a court decision two years ago tightened them even further. the change to abortion laws in poland and now in the united states haved global trends. strongly catholic countries like ireland, argentina and chile have moved to liberalize their abortion laws. only the u.s. and poland have tightened them. that's exposed to political kinship. two nations where a powerful religious right wing have resorted to courts rather than legislatures to restrict abortion. as i found out when i went to poland a few weeks ago, the court decisions haven't ended the debate. they have only made this issue more fraught and in somes cases had a chilling effect on the doctors providing even legal abortions. >> she really died so young. >> she had many plans for the future and we cannot accept that this life is taken. >> reporter: sh

nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley is in kyiv for us now. matt?ht, aaron. there was no reprieve for the holidays, and this city, kyiv, thanks to all of the russian attacks, is still cloaked in darkness. in state-run tv interview released sunday afternoon, russian president vladimir putin saying russia is ready for talks to end the war in ukraine. it's not the first time putin has offered to negotiate, and ukrainian officials have already dismissed the offer as not serious. putin's offer comes as russia's attacks on ukraine continued on christmas day after air strikes in kherson on christmas eve, killing 10 people and wounding 55 more. ukraine's president urging his countrymen to keep the faith. "we will celebrate our holidays as always. we'll smile and be happy," he said. this family is doing just that. they're cooking over a gas camping stove. are you celebrating christmas in spite of putin? >> i would say yes. we know they want to destroy all our holidays, so some holidays for us, they could be target for them like it is in kherson. >> reporter:

matt bradley in kyiv for us. be astounded by the spirit of the ukrainian people thank you, matt. >>> ukraine is pushing for u.n. brokered peace talks but only after russia is prosecuted for war crimes ukraine's foreign minister spoke to the ap in kyiv on monday. >> the idea is twofold on the one hand, not to allow russia to manipulate the issue of peace, because they regularly say they want negotiations, which is not true because everything they do on the battlefield proves the opposite, the contrary they are not seeking peace. >> joining me now is former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, bill taylor welcome in thank you for your time today. both sides suggesting these peace talks. on its face that sounds nice, but it seems to be more complicated than that. i spoke to the president of relations this morning and he told me that has zero chance of happening. what are your thoughts on that >> sorry, i thought you were going to quote richard haas. you were up way too early, cory. >> that's right. >> way too early so i agre

matt bradley is in kyiv. also with us is evelyn farkas.'s now executive director of the mccain institute as well. take us through the expectations of this visit, right, and the planning that went into it. >> reporter: yasmin, as you would expect, a heightened level of sensitivity, secrecy, and security around this surprise visit by the ukrainian president. the area around the white house complex right now, you can see the security preparations ramping up hour by hour as we expect to see the president arrive in three hours from now. the timeline is interesting about how this came together. the last time that president biden spoke with president zelenskyy by phone was on december 11th, about ten days ago and we understand from white house officials that it was in that conversation that the idea of a visit by president zelenskyy was first discussed. a formal invitation followed just three days later, and it was only this weekend, just on sunday, where president zelenskyy officially accepted that invitation and the plans, the wheels were turni

. >> and foreign correspondent matt bradley is with us from kyiv, ukraine, and msnbc contributor helene cooper. and chief international analyst, admiral james stradvidis. i will start you with, mike. give us the latest on what you're hearing from the white house. >> it is really remarkable to see the pictures that we're seeing out of the white house today. think back to the last time president zelenskyy came here to washington, to the white house, in september of 2021, and compare that to now, and what the scene is today, as these two men walking along the colonnades at the white house, sitting down by the roaring fire in the oval office, the first time president zelenskyy has left his country in the 300 days since the invasion from russia. and really obviously, this is a meeting all the more remarkable considering it only came together in a matter of 10 days, and the white house officials say president zelenskyy was keen to come to washington, understanding as president biden might put it that there is something of an inflection point coming here, that despite the fact that ukraine has

joining me now is nbc's matt bradley, live from kyiv, and matt, you know, it's christmas eve tomorrowrapped, we forget sometimes that a lot of ukrainians do not have power, and it is cold out, and they are in the midst of a war. can you tell us what you are hearing on the street? >> yes, i mean i can tell you right now, that ukrainians are determined to celebrate christmas. and as president zelenskyy said in his address to congress that ukrainians will be celebrating christmas by candlelight because of the rolling blackouts because russia continues to bombard the electricity infrastructure and not because it is romantic but because they have to, and i spoke with ukrainian, i went to a christmas market here today here in kyiv, where folks were with kids, they were ice skating and walking around and eating snacks and there was music playing. it really felt like any other city in europe where you see christmas markets like that all the time, and i stopped some folks there, and i asked them, how they felt about christmas this year. >> your country is at war. are you still feeling the chri

a good spirit even though the conflict continues matt bradley jackson, mississippi, did not hav not ha drinking water again officials are still trying to repair it asuickly as possible jackson's been dealing with an ongoing water crisis for decades. back in august, 150,000 residents lost water in the wake of the pearl river floods. >>> this was the third christmas since the start of the pandemic, and covid cases athospital zs across the nation are on the rise once more. >> reporter: this christmas families are looking to exchange presents, not illness. >> they're indoors, close together, a lot of hugging going on people are getting sick and getting infections from each other. >> reporter: over the last two weeks, covid-related hospitalizations are up 7% and deaths up 15%. this chief medical doctor is keeping an eye on covid hospitalizations at miami health >> it's now starting to end back down. >> reporter: at the hospitals that make up the texas medical center in houston, those numbers are also rising. covid hospitalizations more than doubling between mid-november and mid-december whi

matt bradley, coming to us liv from kyiv. thank you very much.george town university school of foreign service. and security fellow at the truman national security project. no lab, thank you very much fo being here she is msnbc's matt bradle just outlined for us how som ukrainians are aligning with the west decelerate christma in the 25th, over january 7th, the traditional easter orthodox celebration what is your take on the significance of that >> first of all, i'm so happ to be here merry christmas to be you. make christmas i think it signals democracy presidents ellen ski was ver clear about that in his visi last week. he was very clear about th role that democracy plays. not only that, it's abou sovereignty. it's about respecting all th tenants up democracy, which is why the ukrainians are fightin this war the way that they are they want their freedom. it's all about democracy, an when you think about that, wha that means in the larger scope of things, you want to align yourself with the people tha you want to be buddies with, essentially, ve

peter and kristen. >> incredible resilience there matt bradley, thank you so much. >>> congress narrowly avoided a shutdown ahead of the christmas holiday with the house passing a massive $1.7 trillion spending plan, mostly along party lines the boost for military spending and $45 billion in aid to ukraine as well as an overhaul of federal election law to try to prevent the possibility of another january 6th type event it is the last major legislative >>> we are seeing some 40s around the bay area, 44 in santa rosa, 39 in palo alto, now coming highlights, but for his unforgettable coverage of the winter storm >> i normally do sports. everything is canceled here for the next couple days what better time to ask the sports guy to come in about five hours earlier than he would normally wake up and go out and stand in the win and snow and cold and tell other people not to do the same. >> that is mark woodley from kwwl in waterloo, iowa braving snow and 12 degree temperatures to report live for more than three hours. he was worried his compilation might get him in trouble with his bosses, but

matt bradley in kyiv for us. also with us is university of new york msnbc analyst peter beinart.were some republicans not including the senate leader, but some other republicans on the house side who were not on board with this money for ukraine. we now are waiting for the omnibus to get through, because that money is stuck in there, the $45 billion how did the historic trip lay the oundation for what ukraine needs and wants from the u.s.? they didn't get everything they wanted in terms of weapons. >> they didn't get everything they wanted, but they got more than they had gotten in the past, at least in terms of the first patriot missile battery. the goal really was to try to show to president putin if he thinks he's going to be able to play a waiting game and that western support for ukraine will erode as we head into the second year of this war in february, that is not going to happen. and today secretary blinken, as he was having his closing news conference for the year saying the u.s. is taking the ball on this issue and running with it. even this announcement we saw today fr

much of th world celebrates on december 25th, and so we will too nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradleyistmas tradition from kyiv >> this orthodox christmas mas might look and sound like it i 1000 years old, but one thin about it is very new this is the first time that st michaels monastery in kyiv i celebrating christmas mass o december 25th, the day it' celebrated in the west, as wel as january 7th, most russian celebrated >> isn't going to church o december 25th defiant, sayin that you are ukrainian >> for many people, it will be a chance to demonstrate th will to be a part of europea civilizations. we are europeans, we choos this civilization. >> it's more than a war over christmas, it's a fight betwee two churches with almost identical names. >> clerics insist that ukrainian patriots, even i they still keep christmas on january 27th >> it's been suggested t change the calendar accordin to political slogans we support all of the patrioti moves, but at the same time, w reserve our right to have ou own world view on the issues o the celebration, calendar, and so on. >> the schism came

nbc's matt bradley is in kyiv for us this morning. matt, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. that's right. the fighting did not take a break for christmas. ukraine's military says russia launched attacks across the eastern and southern fronts yesterday and russia's military said this morning that three of its soldiers were killed in a ukrainian drone attack on a base inside russia. in a state-run tv interview released sunday afternoon, russian pr russian president vladimir putin saying russia is ready for talks to end the war in ukraine. it's not the first time putin offered to negotiate and ukrainian officials have dismissed the offer as not serious. the offer comes as russia's attacks on ukraine continued on christmas day after airstrikes kherson on christmas eve, killing ten people and wounding 55 more ukraine's president urging his countrymen to keep the faith we will celebrate our holidays as always, smile and be happy, he said in a christmas eve message. this family is doing just that cooking over a gas camping stove.

just this month ukrainian officials denied sending any drones into russia joining me now, nbc's matt bradleyd u.s. army retired lieutenant twitty good to have you both here matt, yet another extraordinaire display of resilience, the pictures i saw coming out of ukraine. determined ukrainians celebrating christmas even as the war rampsrages on what's the latest in the battlefield and from cities and towns around you >> reporter: hearing from the battlefield the last couple of weeks hearing a lot about bakhmut and heard volodymyr zelenskyy mentioning that he had just been in bakhmut right before making that historic visit to washington and addressed congress actually a lot of action we're hearing about today is a little north of bakhmut in a city called crimnia, a excite of what looks like ukrainian advances. heard rumors especially on social media, it be had fallen to ukrainian, liberated from the russians but actually heard from senior people in the ukrainian government actually that it looks as though the ukrainians are on the outskirts and haven't actually managed to take crimina but no re

joining me now, nbc foreign correspondent matt bradley, live from kyiv. here is this allegation that what was downed was a ukrainian drone to start >> reporter: yes, and the ukrainian drone, they didn't take responsible for it but they never take responsibility for any of their attacks inside russia that's standard policy they've been doing that since the beginning of the war richard, this isn't new because ukraine has managed to strike targets inside russia, and also inside russian occupied ukraine and places like crimea, occupied since 2014 so this is something that the ukrainians have always shown, they have this capability to project their power beyond their own borders, especially when they're armed to the teeth with so many western weapons, as they are now but, you know, this capability is something that we could see expand as the ukrainians tend to, and we've seen over the past couple of months, make some gains on the battle field, and push closer and closer to russian borders. it might be why where we're hearing vladimir putin talking about negotia

matt bradley has more on the ground from kyiv. >> reporter: ukrainians here in kyiv woke up again this morning to the sound of bombardments. 16 drones that the ukrainians say have been provided to the russians by iran were shot down before they reached their targets. this according to the ukrainian military. this is a repeat from the day before when the ukrainians said the russians fired 70 projectiles across the country. the vast majority of those were also intercepted by ukraine's defense system. again, these are all targeted -- almost all of them, at infrastructure. civilian infrastructure. ones that the rush sla russians legitimate military targets. we got a readout from the kremlin describing what everybody knew, that this was one of the most blistering attacks, one of the most biggest bombardments that has happened against ukraine since the beginning of the war. most of the targets have been electricity infrastructure. that's why we are seeing rolling blackouts throughout the country and here in kyiv, where as of yesterday, 4

. >> matt bradley in kyiv. take care. holiday in argentina today to celebrate the world cup champions. thousands of people are packed into the streets right now, and this is a live picture for the parade that started two hours ago, and the team is expected, and lionel messi sleeping in style. he posted a picture of himself sleeping with the world cup trophy this morning. messi can now boast that he has won the prize for the most liked instagram post ever. and his posts racked up more than 62 million likes. that wraps up the hour for me. i am josÉ diaz-balart. please follow the show online, jdbalart @msnbc. yasmin vossoughian picks up with more news right now.

joining us now with the latest is matt bradley. the situation in herself son. >> reporter: there were two dozen projectiles that struck the city after several dozen more came earlier this week. >> reporter: this morning herself son under fire again. russian artillery attacks on christmas eve killed 11 people. her son is among the dead. i urged him to wake up and leave the house, but he didn't and that was it, she said. our lives are ruined. but the fearest battles are in the east. among ukraine's longest battles so far, violent crucible for the wider war. other areas in donbas require maximum strength and concentration. the situation there is difficult and painful. the constant drum beat of war now constant for many. you don't even look or listen to what is happening and where. that's how we are now. but still, i want to live a normal life. after five months of fighting, there's little here left to destroy. except lives. like a video game designer killed just before christmas. he always cared about other people more than himself, s

nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley is joining us from kyiv. >> reporter: as you mentioned, the city of kherson under nearly constant bombardment. some 2 dozen projectiles by russia overnight. earlier in the week there were dozens. this is a city just liberated by the ukrainians only about six weeks ago. this was the only really major city, the only regional capital that russia was able to hold and occupy since the war began back in february. when they essentially walked out of it six weeks ago and surrendered it to the ukrainians who advanced on it and retook it, it was a major embarrassment for them because this was the only really major city they were able to occupy. it's very significant. this is considered sort of the gateway to crimea. that's the island peninsula south of ukraine that vladimir putin illegally annexed back in 2014. the fact that the ukrainians were able to take it back meant that maybe they could in the coming weeks or months project their power into the crimea, which has always been seen as the crown jewel of vladimir put

that and the liberation and the joy we saw on the street, you have to wonder ass was reported by matt bradleys nothing left here to bomb except the people pop so what's the point of going after kherson? >> the biggest point is the gateway to crimea. you take a look at kherson, you take a look at where russia is, they want to make that gateway through donbas to kherson down to crimea. that would establish their land bridge. as long as the ukrainians have occupied, then their land bridge is threatened. it's critical they take that and have the stability for their land. >> general, you heard matt's report that president putin has signed that decree banning crude oil to any country that has joined the $60 price cap scheme for russian sea-born oil. what is his calculous right now? >> this is an interesting move. so it was the g7, eu and australia that really backed the sanctions here. and putin turned around and said sanctions here is what we're talking about with the $60 barrel. so what i believe putin would do is count on russia, india, pakistan and others to be be able to continue to buy this o

. >> nbc's matt bradley bringing us that fascinating reporting live if kyiv thank you, matt. stay safe there. >>> "the washington post" has a new interactive project online now titled "loss and resilience: photos from a year of war in ukraine. joining us now is pulitzer prize winning journalist for "the washington post," salwan you and your colleagues have done a remarkable work with some of these images. let's put them up now. this is one you took it shows the family members of a ukrainian soldier grieving at his casket you can see the faces there. tell us about this picture and how it came about. >> thanks for having me. yes, my colleagues and i since the first day of the war we were all across ukraine, even before the war, and just showing the toll it takes on people and the cities and this picture i took it in odesa, southern city of ukraine, on the black sea, where after a strike, a russian strike on an army base in mykolaiv where it took more than 40 people life and this was a grieving family of one of the members. >> just hard, you know, to look at salwan, the second i

. >> nbc news report matt bradley with a sobering reality from inside ukraine.r barrage of missiles and drones on critical areas overnight. meanwhile, russian president vladimir putin met with chinese leader xi jinping making show of the close relationship between their two countries. the new york times described it as two strongman meeting in a week moment. with us tonight, jason beardsley, a decorated u.s. military veteran with over 20 years of experience in the army-navy now national executive director for the association of the navy. thank you so much for coming on the show tonight. looking ahead to the new year, how are ukrainians, ukrainian forces holding out on the ground as we close the year. >> they're actually held out pretty well. they are very resilient. obviously we're going into the winter months. that gets very difficult. but give them credit for work they've done so far. and just a note, quickly, we here to stand together the organization, just wanted to get that right for you. thank you for having me tonight. >> do you see a path, jason, to endi

potential of escalated attacks by russia over new year's eve i want to bring in now live from kyiv, matt bradleythe expectations over the next say five, six days or so. and what you're seeing on the ground >> reporter: we heard from president zelenskyy that there could be attacks anytime now between now and new year's but the fact is there were a lot of opportunities, a lot of occasions when putin and his army could have attacked ukraine in these sweeping bombardments that have really cut out a lot of power in the kyiv region. now a lot of the lights are back on, but there are still rolling blackouts. this is still a crisis i got to tell you, the battle lines have been frozen for the last several weeks and they are going to be literally freezing in the next couple of months that's because you know, winter is descending and that's dpgoin to make it easier for troop movements to happen. basically once the ground freezes then russia or actually ukraine, might find it easier to launch an offensive because they can roll their heavy artillery, their tanks, they're mobilized heavy weapons, some of whic

. >> nbc's matt bradley for us and keep thank you sir. up next, searching for a cure.lopment, many of them, and fight against alzheimer's. what can we hope to see in 2023? stick around ♪ acoustic soul music throughout ♪ ♪ acoustic soul music throughout ♪ ♪ acoustic soul music throughout ♪ ♪ acoustic soul music throughout ♪ [baby yawning] ♪holiday music playing♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ peaceful state. full plate. wait, are you my blind date? dancing crew. trip for two. nail the final interview. buy or lease? masterpiece. inside joke. artichoke. game with doug. brand new mug. come here, kid. gimme a hug. have you gotten your updated covid-19 booster? they're designed to help protect against recent omicron variants. schedule yours at vaccines.gov. ♪ ♪ my name is austin james. as a musician living with diabetes, fingersticks can be a real challenge. that's why i use the freestyle libre 2 system. with a painless, one-second scan, i know my glucose numbers without fingersticks. now, i'm managing my diabetes better, and i've lowered my a1c from 8.2 to 6.7. take the mystery out of managing your

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i want to bring in matt bradley from kyiv. good to see you.officials saying about this latest attack on infrastructure? >> well, we've been hearing a lot, jose, from ukrainian officials. but a lot of this you can see for yourself right here, right over my left shoulder. it is dark here in kyiv. there's rolling blackouts. there's some lights that are on. a lot of those are generator-powered. but there are rolling blackouts throughout the entire country. two-thirds of the drones you mentioned landed right here in the area around the capital of kyiv. we heard from president volodymyr zelenskyy, he said that these drones are part of a new shipment, he thinks, that have come from iran to the russians because -- and ukrainian intelligence believes, the latest -- or the last shipment of drones had been so badly depleted by their constant bombardment mainly targeting civilian infrastructure here in ukraine. now that is something that's continuing. amazingly, the city of kyiv, we heard from the mayor, 3% of all of the customers whom the govery 3% have