On Christmas Eve, explosions rang out at the Engels air base in the Saratov region of Russia, where the Russian military keeps some of its strategic bombers. The Ukrainians also struck the base earlier this month using Soviet-style drones. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, in his Christmas message on Sunday evening, said that darkness will not prevent Ukrainians from defeating the invaders. At the same time, President Vladimir Putin says that Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine, but accuses Kyiv and its Western allies of “refusing” to negotiate.

07:34New LIVE video footage of Tuesday’s events here

Synthesis of the day:

• Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said that his government intends to hold a peace summit by the end of February. He suggested that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres could be a possible mediator in peace negotiations with Russia.
• Ukraine’s cyber security services have neutralized more than 4,500 Russian cyber attacks against their country since the beginning of the year, an official said on Monday, AFP reports.
• A Russian soldier who confessed to killing a Ukrainian civilian this summer is now also facing criminal charges in Russia on charges of spreading “fake news” about Putin’s army, independent Meduza reports.
• Three Russian servicemen were killed as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack on a key airbase on Russian territory, Moscow said.
• The governor of the Kherson region reported that 18 people remain in serious condition after the Russian attack on the city on December 24.
• ​The FSB, Russia’s Federal Security Service, says it has stopped “communities” of Islamic State (ISIS) supporters transporting fighters to Syria and Ukraine with the help of Russian prosecutors, and that the Islamist jihadists are now fighting alongside Ukraine’s armed forces.
• Testimony of a Kherson man who returned to the city to help his parents about the Russian attacks on Christmas Eve: “There were 71 explosions, 10 people died”
• The balance of the two armies:How much did the Russian army lose before Christmas: Over 3,000 tanks and over 6,000 battle tanks / How much did Ukraine lose

The latest on the war in Ukraine, day 306:

23:06President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Monday that the situation at the front in the Donbas region, in particular he called Bakhmut, Kreminna, is “complicated and painful” and requires “all strength and concentration” from the country, Reuters reports.

“The situation there is difficult and painful. The occupiers are using all available resources – and these are significant resources – for any advancement,” Zelenskyy said.

10:30 in the eveningUkrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Monday that his government intends to hold a peace summit by the end of February, preferably at the United Nations, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as a possible mediator, around the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. the Associated Press reports.

10:01 pmUkraine’s cyber security services have neutralized more than 4,500 Russian cyber attacks against their country since the beginning of the year, an official said on Monday, AFP reports.

20:40The video, which appeared on social networks, shows how soldiers of the “Azov” regiment honored the memory of their comrades who died in battle.

20:26 Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev as First Deputy Chairman of the Military Industry Committee, Ria Novosti reports.

19:11A Russian soldier who confessed to killing a Ukrainian civilian this summer is now also facing criminal charges in Russia on charges of spreading “fake news” about Putin’s army, independent Meduza reports.

18:55Strip clubs in Russia began to remain without visitors after Vladimir Putin’s September decree on mobilization, but the situation causes dissatisfaction not only among female dancers.

18:23Sberbank, Russia’s largest state-owned bank, will be forced to close its office in the United Arab Emirates early next year, First Vice President Oleksandr Vedyakhin said on Monday, blaming pressure from sanctions, Reuters reported.

Ukraine demands the expulsion of Russia from the UN Security Council

18:00Ukraine has called for Russia to be expelled from the permanent membership of the UN Security Council, claiming that Moscow’s “illegitimate” presence in the UN is “marked by wars and confiscation of other countries’ territories,” The Guardian reports.

17:33Bulgarian journalist Kristo Grozev from the investigative website Bellingcat shared a video in which members of Wagner’s mercenary group tell the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov that he is useless, saying that he is “damn”, the fighters are upset that they do not have enough artillery shells.

4:30 p.mUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that he had a phone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and they discussed the “peace formula”.

He added that he also thanked Modi “for his humanitarian assistance and support at the UN” during the conversation.

15:35In the lavish greenhouses of Kyiv’s botanical garden, workers are scrambling to save a decades-old collection of tropical plants after months of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid led to blackouts that threatened the garden’s heating supply, Reuters reported.

The FSB declares that Islamist jihadists are fighting on the side of Ukraine

14:56​The FSB, Russia’s Federal Security Service, says it has stopped “communities” of supporters of the Islamic State (ISIS) that were transporting fighters to Syria and Ukraine with the help of Russian prosecutors, and that the Islamist jihadists are now fighting alongside Ukrainian armed forces.

14:22Mark Hertling, one of the former commanders of US forces in Europe, on Sunday mocked Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement on Christmas Eve that Moscow was ready to negotiate “acceptable solutions” to end the war in Ukraine, while the US general said he himself this position of negotiating with the Russians and that the lessons he learned from that experience did not bode well.

14:00Testimony of a Kherson man who returned to the city to help his parents about the Russian attacks on Christmas Eve: “There were 71 explosions, 10 people died”

12:25 pmVIDEO A new video posted on social media shows a group of 12 Russian soldiers being blown apart by Ukrainian artillery fire after they took cover in a house where they thought they were safe. Footage has appeared showing that Moscow’s military is absolutely sure that nothing is in danger.

Russia lost more than 3,000 tanks and more than 6,000 battle tanks

11:46 amThe balance of the two armies:How much did the Russian army lose before Christmas: Over 3,000 tanks and over 6,000 battle tanks / How much did Ukraine lose

11:19 am Ukraine intends to ask for the expulsion of Russia from the UN Security Council on Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Sunday, France Presse quoted.

“Tomorrow (Monday) we will officially express our position. “We have a very simple question: does Russia have the right to remain a permanent member of the UN Security Council and to be in the UN?” he said during a national telethon on Christmas Eve.

“We have a convincing and reasoned answer: no, it doesn’t,” the head of Ukrainian diplomacy emphasized.

10:56 amPHOTO Ukrainians experienced this year’s Christmas with fear of potential new attacks by Russia, which will leave them without light and heat in the middle of winter, the Christmas tree in Kyiv and the center of the Ukrainian capital have strong symbolism in this regard.

10:44 amNear the border with Russia, in northeastern Poland, the American army leads one of the NATO battle groups, which also includes Romanian soldiers: her name is Yulia, she is 21 years old, she drives the largest tank in the world – VIDEO REPORT HotNews.ro

Medvedev says that Russia’s nuclear weapons prevent the West from declaring war on it

10:23 amA Ukrainian military man was filmed in a Santa Claus suit, launching bombs from an 82-mm mortar:

09:34Dmitry Medvedev: Russia’s nuclear weapons prevent the West from declaring war on it

New explosions at the Russian air base, from where strategic bombers take off

09:01The Ukrainians brought Humvee vehicles modified with Stinger anti-aircraft missile launchers to the front:

08:43 Three people died after falling under the wreckage of a Ukrainian drone shot down near a military airfield in the Saratov region, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow reported. According to him, not a single plane from the Engels base would be damaged, Ria.ru reports

“On December 26, at approximately 01:35 Moscow time, a Ukrainian drone was shot down at low altitude during the approach to the Engels military airbase in the Saratov region. As a result of the fall of the drone, three Russian servicemen from the technical staff of the air base were mortally wounded,” the ministry said, Reuters reports, citing News.ro.

08:10 Russia is ready to restore gas supplies to Europe through the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline.

The Yamal-Europe gas pipeline has not been operational since December 2021, as Poland refused to purchase gas from Russia in favor of using gas stored in Germany. In May, Warsaw terminated the agreement with Russia, having previously rejected Moscow’s request to pay in rubles. Gazprom responded by halting supplies and saying it would no longer be able to export gas through Poland after Moscow imposed sanctions on the company that owns the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline.

“This year, we managed to significantly increase LNG supplies to Europe,” said the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, who predicts that Russia will deliver 21 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe in 2022.

07:50 VIDEO In Russia, explosions at the Engels Air Base, where strategic bombers are stored / previously the Ukrainians hit it with drones

Summary of Sunday:

• Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has said, accusing Kyiv and its Western allies of “refusing” to negotiate.
• Wagner’s boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, wants to nationalize the oligarchs’ resources in order to sponsor Russia’s military actions.
• Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak said Vladimir Putin “needs to come back to reality” after the Russian leader said Moscow was ready for talks. “It is obvious” that Russia “does not want negotiations, but is trying to avoid responsibility,” Podolyak wrote on Twitter. .
• From February 24 to December 25, Russia lost 102,050 military personnel in Ukraine, Ukraine reported.
• Ukrainians donated blood on Sunday after Russian shelling killed 16 people and injured dozens more in Kherson.
• On Christmas Day, Russian troops bombed more than 65 settlements in Ukraine, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on December 25.
• The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said in his Christmas message on Sunday evening that darkness will not prevent Ukrainians from defeating the invaders, but when “Ukrainians are together, (…) we cannot be defeated.”