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Key events
Quick snap here from Russia’s Gazprom as the energy giant says it will ship 42.4m cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Monday, a volume in line with recent days.
Russians troops are working “round-the-clock” at new anti-aircraft missile system positions to defend against missile and air strikes by Ukraine, the Russian Interfax reported late on Sunday citing the defence ministry.
Crews of the S-300V systems were “mastering new position areas” of the Russian long range surface-to-air missile systems, the news agency reported.
“The air defence units of the western military district continue to serve in the new position areas on combat duty around the clock.”
The western military district, one of Russia’s five military districts, incorporates regions bordering Ukraine, including the Belgorod and Bryansk regions. It also covers the Kaliningrad exclave.
Citing a military commander, Interfax reported that the S-300V battery is capable of tracking a target at a distance of up to 204km (127 miles) and at an altitude of up to 30km (18.6 miles).
As Russia attempts to arm its embattled troops, recent media reports suggest its long-range air forces are also to be refitted with new wing-borne hypersonic missiles.
The Interfax news agency cited the force’s commanding officer, Sergei Kobylash, on Monday in an interview with the Russian defence ministry’s newspaper as saying:
In the interests of long-range aviation, the development and supply of the entire range of aviation weapons, including new cruise hypersonic missiles, is being carried out.”
Russia’s fleet of long-range bombers are part of its nuclear triad, and are capable of launching both nuclear and conventional missiles.
Russian-supplied weapons deployed to Belarus, officials say
Russian-supplied Iskander tactical missile systems, which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and S-400 air defence systems have been deployed to Belarus and are prepared to perform their intended tasks, a senior Belarusian defence ministry official has said.
Leonid Kasinsky, head of the main directorate of ideology at the ministry, said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday:
Our servicemen, crews have fully completed their training in the joint combat training centres of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus …
These types of weapons [Iskander and S-400 systems] are on combat duty today and they are fully prepared to perform tasks for their intended purpose.”
It is not clear how many of the Iskander systems have been deployed to Belarus but it follows Putin’s visit to Minsk on 19 December amid concerns in Ukraine that he would pressure Belarus to join a fresh ground offensive and open a new front.
Russian forces used Belarus as a launch pad for their abortive attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in February, and there has been a growing flurry of Russian and Belarusian military activity in recent months.
The Iskander-M, a mobile guided missile system, has a range of up to 500km (300 miles) and can carry conventional or nuclear warheads.
Russian airbase hit in drone attack, 3 killed
Three Russian military personnel were killed early on Monday when a Ukrainian drone attacked a base in Russia’s Saratov region, Russian news agencies reported, citing the defence ministry.
Russian state media agency Tass quotes the defence ministry as saying:
On December 26, at around 01:35 Moscow time (2235 GMT), a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down at low altitude while approaching the Engels military airfield in the Saratov region.
As a result of the fall of the wreckage of the drone, three Russian technical servicemen who were at the airfield were fatally injured.”
The Guardian has not verified whether the drone was shot down, as opposed to having struck its target as intended.
Earlier reports said blasts were heard at Russia’s Engels airbase hundreds of miles from frontlines in Ukraine. The RBC-Ukraine news agency reported that two explosions took place.
The airbase, near the city of Saratov, is about 730km (450 miles) south-east of Moscow more than 600 kilometres (370 miles) from Ukraine. It was also hit earlier this month.
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments as they unfold over the next few hours.
Russian news agencies are reporting that three Russian military personnel were killed early on Monday by a Ukrainian drone.
Citing the defence ministry, they reported the drone had been shot down as it attacked a base in Russia’s Saratov region. The Guardian has not verified whether the drone was shot down, as opposed to having struck its target as intended.
For any updates or feedback you wish to share, please feel free to get in touch via email or Twitter.
If you have just joined us, here are all the latest developments:
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Blasts were heard at Russia’s Engels airbase hundreds of miles from frontlines in Ukraine, Ukrainian and Russian media outlets reported early on Monday. The RBC-Ukraine news agency reported that two explosions took place. The Russian news outlet Baza, citing local residents, said air raid sirens were wailing and an explosion was heard. The Guardian was not been able to immediately verify the reports. The airbase, near the city of Saratov, is about 730km (450 miles) south-east of Moscow.
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Vladimir Putin has said the west is trying to “tear apart” Russia and claimed his offensive in Ukraine aims to “unite the Russian people”. In an interview aired on national TV, Putin said Russia’s “geopolitical opponents [were] aiming to tear apart Russia, the historical Russia … Divide and conquer, that’s what they have always sought to accomplish and are still seeking to do,” Putin added. “But our goal is different: it’s to unite the Russian people.”
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Putin claimed Russia was ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine, while accusing Kyiv and its western allies of “refusing” to negotiate. Kyiv and its allies suspect Putin’s claims are a ploy to buy time after a series of Russian defeats and retreats on the battlefield.
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Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Putin “needs to come back to reality” after the Russian leader claimed Moscow was ready for negotiations. It is “obvious” that Russia “doesn’t want negotiations, but tries to avoid responsibility”, Podolyak tweeted.
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Air raid alerts sounded across Kyiv and most of Ukraine on Sunday. Officials gave the all-clear and there were no immediate reports of Russian attacks. Unconfirmed reports on Ukrainian social media suggested the sirens may have been triggered after Russian jets took to the skies in Belarus.
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Ukraine’s Kherson governor has issued a blood donor appeal after 16 people were killed when Russian shelling hit the southern region on Saturday. Yaroslav Yanushevych said Russian forces “opened fire on the Kherson region 71 times” with artillery, multiple-launch rocket systems and mortars. Iuliia Mendel, a Ukrainian former presidential spokesperson, shared photos of people waiting to donate blood in Kherson.
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Three Ukrainian emergency workers died when a mine exploded while they were demining parts of the Kherson region. “All three selflessly served … and performed the task of demining territories liberated from the enemy in the Kherson region,” the Zhytomyr emergency service said on its Facebook page.
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Russian forces’ rate of advance in the Bakhmut area of eastern Ukraine has probably slowed in recent days, according to analysts. In its latest update, the US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) cited one Russian military blogger as saying that Ukrainian forces had pushed back elements of Russian private mercenary company the Wagner group to positions they held days ago.
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President Volodymyr Zelenskiy used his latest video address to say that Ukrainians would create their Christmas miracle by remaining unbowed, despite Russian attacks that have left millions without power. Speaking 10 months to the day since Russia invaded, Zelenskiy said that while freedom came at a high price, slavery would cost more.
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Moscow is reportedly ready to resume gas supplies to Europe through the Yamal-Europe pipeline. “The European market remains relevant, as the gas shortage persists, and we have every opportunity to resume supplies,” Russian state media outlet Tass cited Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak as saying on Sunday.
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Russia’s parliament is preparing to introduce a higher taxation rate for people who have left the country, as many have since the war in Ukraine began. Some local media reported as many as 700,000 fled after the announcement of a mobilisation drive to call up new troops to join the fight in September. The government rejected that figure at the time.
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China’s foreign minister has defended his country’s position on the war in Ukraine and indicated that Beijing will deepen ties with Moscow in the coming year. China will “deepen strategic mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation” with Russia, Wang Yi said in a video address.
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Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, and Pope Francis used their Christmas addresses to call for an end to the war in Ukraine. Condemning the use of food as a weapon of war, the pope said the war in Ukraine and conflict in other countries had put millions at risk of famine.
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