December 26, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Ukrainian President Zelensky said the front lines of Bakhmut, Kreminna and other areas in the eastern Donbas region are “difficult, painful.”

“The situation there is difficult, painful. The occupants are spending all the resources available to them — and these are significant resources — to squeeze out at least some progress,” he said in his nightly address Monday.?

He thanked employees who worked Christmas Eve and Christmas day to restore energy to different parts of the country. He said that while there are still some outages, the situation is improving.

“As of this evening, about 9 million people are cut off in different regions of Ukraine. But the number and duration of outages is gradually decreasing. I am grateful to each and every person who ensured this result,” he said.?

The Ukrainian president told people to be prepared for further Russian attacks as the war stretches on, saying, “Air defense is preparing, the state is preparing, and everyone must be prepared. Please pay attention?to?the?sirens.”

Ukrainian soldiers with the 43rd Heavy Artillery Brigade fire a rocket from a self propelled cannon on the front line in Bakhmut on Monday.

At least three Russian servicemen were killed Monday after a Ukrainian drone was shot down by air defenses as it approached a military airfield deep inside Russian territory, according to Russian state news agencies, citing the defense ministry. It is the second such attempted attack on the city of Saratov Oblast, which houses the Engels-2 military airfield, a strategic bomber airbase, this month.

In comments Monday, Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat did not claim direct responsibility for the drone, but did suggest the attack was the “consequence of what Russia is doing.”

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin?said Sunday “we are ready to negotiate,” but added, “It’s not us who is refusing to negotiate, it’s them,” according to state media, citing an interview Putin did with state TV. Putin’s remarks come as Russia continues its offensive against?Ukraine.

Here are other top headlines to know:

The war in Ukraine has caused severe damage to the country’s energy sector, which means many face ongoing blackouts.

CNN’s Will Ripley looked into the heightened risk for Ukrainians who depend on power for their vital medical treatments during rolling blackouts. Ripley spoke to a 12-year-old boy who relies on breathing treatments for his cystic fibrosis.

Watch his report, below:

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02:32 - Source: CNN

Three Russian servicemen were killed Monday after a Ukrainian drone was shot down by air defenses as it approached a military airfield in Saratov Oblast, deep inside Russian territory, according to Russian state news agencies, citing the defense ministry.

CNN has been unable to independently verify Russian reports the drone was deliberately shot down and did not reach its intended target.

Here’s what we know so far about the incident:

Where it happened: It took place in the western port city of Engels, some 500 miles (more than 800 kilometers) southeast of Moscow, located on the Volga River.

Why it is significant: It is the second such attempted attack on the city, which houses the Engels-2 military airfield, a strategic bomber airbase, this month.

Investigation is ongoing: Law enforcement agencies are now investigating the incident at the airfield, said Saratov Oblast Governor Roman Busargin on Monday. The comments, posted on his official Telegram channel, came after reports circulated of an explosion in the city. He added that there were “no emergencies in the residential areas of the city,” and that no civilian infrastructure had been damaged. He also extended his condolences to the families of the servicemen, saying the government would provide them with assistance.

What Ukraine is saying: In comments Monday, Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat did not claim direct responsibility for the drone, but did suggest the attack was the “consequence of what Russia is doing.” He added: “If the Russians thought that the war would not affect anyone in the deep rear (of Russia) or anywhere else, they were deeply mistaken. Therefore, as we see, such things are happening more and more often, and let’s hope that this will only benefit Ukraine.” Also on Monday, a spokesperson for South of Ukraine’s Security and Defense Forces warned of a possible retaliatory Russian strike, referencing a similar incident earlier this month in the same region.

What occurred earlier this month: CCTV footage earlier this month appeared to show an explosion lighting up the sky in Engels. At the time, Gov. Busargin also reassured residents that no civilian infrastructure was damaged and that “information about incidents at military facilities is being checked by law enforcement agencies.” He had acknowledged that information about “a loud bang and a burst in Engels in the early morning” was spreading on social networks and the media. The Engels-2 airfield is nearly 6 kilometers (more than 3 miles) from where the CCTV footage was recorded in early December.

Putin speaks during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on December 22.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is ready to “negotiate with everyone involved in this process about acceptable solutions” regarding the war in?Ukraine, according to Russian state news agency TASS, citing Putin’s interview with state TV Sunday.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted in response saying, “Putin needs to come back to reality.”

Remember: Putin’s remarks comes as Russia continues its offensive against?Ukraine. On Sunday, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of Donetsk regional military administration, said Russian troops hit Kramatorsk with three rockets. An industrial area was hit but there were no casualties.

Dmitry Medvedev during a press conference while on a visit to France in June, 2019.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed former President Dmitry Medvedev to a new position—that of first deputy chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission, according to the decree published by the government.

The decree signed by Putin introduced changes to the Military-Industrial Commission and listed Medvedev, who is currently deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, as its first deputy chairman.

The Military Industrial Commission is a permanent body created to ensure the implementation of the state policy in the field of the military-industrial complex, and military-technical support for defense, national security and law enforcement, according to the government’s website. Putin himself is the chairman of the commission.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, heads of the Foreign Intelligence Service, the FSB, the National Guard and others are also on the commission board.

Russian Ambassador to the?UN Vasily Nebenzya speaks at a Security?Council meetting in September.

Russia should be excluded from the security council of the United Nations, and from being a member of the UN entirely, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called for on Monday.?

In a statement, the foreign ministry lamented the “illegitimacy of the Russian Federation’s presence in the UN Security Council and in the United Nations as a whole.”?

The foreign ministry alleges “gross violations of the norms and principles of international law as well as for crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine, in particular, for war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as the crime of genocide.”?

It says Russia could be re-admitted upon recommendation for UN membership once it “fulfills the conditions for membership in the Organization.”?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for Russia’s expulsion from the United Nations in the past.

Some background: When the United Nations?charter was signed in 1945,?it established the Security Council with five permanent members and six nonpermanent members. The permanent members – the US, the UK, France, the Soviet Union, and the Republic of China – were each given the power to veto any resolutions they opposed.

Today, the Security Council has 15 members, but the five permanent members have remained the same, with Russia holding the former Soviet Union’s seat and China taking the seat of the Republic of China.

Three Russian servicemen were killed Monday after a Ukrainian drone was shot down by air defenses as it approached a military airfield in Saratov Oblast, inside Russian territory, according to Russian state news agencies.

The incident took place in the western port city of Engels, some 500 miles (more than 800 kilometers) southeast of Moscow, located on the Volga River. It is the second such attempted attack on the city, which houses the Engels-2 military airfield, a strategic bomber airbase, this month.

A spokesperson for South of Ukraine’s Security and Defense Forces warned of a possible retaliatory Russian strike, referencing a similar incident earlier this month in the same region.

Catch up on other key developments regarding this incident and the war:

Bellingcat reporter?Christo?Grozev?gives a press conference in October, 2018.

Investigative journalist Christo Grozev has been put on Russia’s wanted list, according to the website of the Interior Ministry of Russia.

The Interior Ministry’s website says Grozev, who is Bulgarian, is wanted under an article of the Criminal Code, without specifying which article.

According to Russia’s monitoring group OVD-Info, a criminal case on disseminating “fake news” about the Russian army has been opened against Grozev.

Grozev is the lead Russia investigator for the investigative group Bellingcat focusing on “security threats, extraterritorial clandestine operations, and the weaponization of information,” according to Bellingcat’s website.

Together with the team of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, CNN journalists and journalists from other outlets, he investigated the poisoning of Navalny in 2020.

Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Grozev has been using open-source digital tools to document war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine.

People take photos in front of the recently-illuminated Christmas tree at Sophia Square in Kyiv on Sunday.

People in central Kyiv welcomed with cheers on Sunday the lighting of the capital’s Christmas tree, which was first lit a week ago and since then it lights up every evening.

The Christmas tree is located in Sophia square – the traditional place for the Christmas and New Year festivities which usually includes a Christmas market – at the center of the Ukrainian capital.

The moment tree was lit up using a power generator was met by enthusiasm from the crowd which had gathered to witness the moment.

Lit in blue and yellow colors, like the Ukrainian national flag, the 12-meter high tree is decorated with white doves and topped with an ornament representing?Ukraine’s coat of arms, a symbol of the country which has been devastated by Putin’s war since Feb. 24?this year.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said earlier this year that decorations would be funded 100% from local businesses and that the tree would be decorated with “with energy-saving lights”.

Ihor Zholudiev, an IT specialist originally from?Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, told CNN that he found the moment “inspiring.”

Ihor and Victoria, a married couple also present at the square echoed his sentiment.

“We wish the Russians to go away from our land, that’s the only wish,” they told CNN, adding they were hoping for “for some ray of good,” this Christmas and New Year.

“We came here with our child. She was born during an air raid, and she needs happiness too. Our daughter is 9 months old, she was born on March 31,” they said.

Pope?Francis delivers his annual Christmas Day message from the main balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on December 25.

Pope Francis expressed his wish for world peace during his annual Christmas day message and blessing delivered at the Vatican on Sunday, reiterating his appeal for an end to the war in?Ukraine.

“May the Lord inspire us to offer concrete gestures of solidarity to assist all those who are suffering and may him lighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the thunder of weapons and put an immediate end to this senseless war,” he added.

Pope Francis also wished for the “end of bloodshed” in Iran and for peaceful co-existence between different communities in the Middle East.

The Pope also condemned the use of food as a weapon.

“We know that every war causes hunger and food is exploited as a weapon hindering its distribution to people who are already suffering,” Pope Francis said, urging “those who hold political responsibilities that they commit to make food solely an instrument of peace.”

Zelensky speaks during his nightly address on December 25.

Russia will try to make the last few days of the year “dark and difficult,”?Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Sunday.?

“Russia lost everything it could this year,” the Ukrainian president continued. “But it is trying to compensate for its losses with the gloating of its propagandists after the missile strikes at our country, at our energy sector.”?

Zelensky urged Ukrainians “to be ready for any scenario” and “remember where the nearest point of invincibility is located.”?

“More than 5,500 points have already been opened throughout the country,“ he added.?

The “invincibility points” offer emergency shelter and services for Ukrainians without power following Russian attacks.?

Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat did not claim direct responsibility for the drone incident at a Russian military facility in the?western city of Engels in Saratov Oblast which led to the death of three Russian servicemen. But he did suggest the attack was the “consequence of what Russia is doing.”

Also on Monday, a spokesperson for South of Ukraine’s Security and Defense Forces warned of a possible retaliatory Russian strike, referencing a similar incident earlier this month in the same region.

“This reminds of the events of Dec. 5, so there may be some deja vu, some repetition of this situation, after which [the Russians] launched a massive missile strike,” the spokesperson said. “Therefore, we should be prepared for this, take it into account in our plans and do not forget to proceed to the shelter.”

Some context: Earlier this month, CCTV footage appeared to show an explosion lighting up the sky in Engels. At the time, Saratov Oblast Gov. Roman Busargin also reassured residents that no civilian infrastructure was damaged and that “information about incidents at military facilities is being checked by law enforcement agencies.”

He had acknowledged that information about “a loud bang and a burst in Engels in the early morning” was spreading on social networks and the media.

The Engels-2 airfield is nearly six kilometers from where the CCTV footage was recorded in early December.

Three Russian servicemen were killed Monday after a Ukrainian drone was shot down by air defenses as it approached a military airfield in Saratov Oblast, deep inside Russian territory, according to Russian state news agencies, citing the defense ministry.

The incident took place in the western port city of Engels, some 500 miles (more than 800 kilometers) southeast of Moscow, located on the Volga River. It is the second such attempted attack on the city, which houses the Engels-2 military airfield, a strategic bomber airbase, this month.

Law enforcement agencies are now investigating the incident at the airfield, said Saratov Oblast Gov. Roman Busargin on Monday. The comments, posted on his official Telegram channel, came after reports circulated of an explosion in the city.

He added that there were “no emergencies in the residential areas of the city,” and that no civilian infrastructure had been damaged. He also extended his condolences to the families of the servicemen, saying the government would provide them with assistance.

CNN has been unable to independently verify Russian reports the drone was deliberately shot down and did not reach its intended target.

In comments Monday, Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat did not claim direct responsibility for the drone, but did suggest the attack was the “consequence of what Russia is doing.”

With previous reporting?by Tim Lister,?Josh Pennington?and?Maria Kostenko.?

Russia is prepared to resume gas supplies to Europe via the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, which was previously stopped for political reasons, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Russian state news agency TASS on Sunday.

“The European market remains relevant, as the gas shortage persists, and we have every opportunity to resume supplies. For example, the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which was stopped for political reasons, remains unused,” Novak said.

There is an increase in demand for gas from Europe, Novak said, according to TASS.

“Today, we can confidently say that there is a demand for our gas. Therefore, we continue to consider Europe as a potential market for the sale of our products. It is clear that a large-scale campaign was launched against us, which ended with acts of sabotage against Nord Stream,” he said.

More background: Russia has been in an energy standoff with Europe since it invaded?Ukraine?in February.

In May, only 44 hours after?Ukraine?reduced the flow of natural gas across its territory into Europe, blaming interference by Russian troops,?Gazprom stopped supplies?through the Yamal-Europe pipeline running across Poland, and stopped sending gas to a distributor in Germany. Gazprom was forced to suspend supplies due to sanctions on its parent company EuRoPol GAZ, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.

In December, the West to East gas supply from Germany to Poland was also temporarily halted, “falling to zero,” TASS reports.

Southern Ukraine’s?Kherson?region was shelled 71 times on Saturday,?according to Yaroslav Yanushevych, head of the?Kherson?region military administration.

Russia fired artillery, multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) and mortars,?Yanushevych wrote on Telegram Sunday.

Kherson?city was attacked 41 times, he added.

Yanushevych?said 16 people were killed in the?Kherson?region on Saturday, including three state emergency workers who were killed during de-mining operations.?Another 64 people received injuries of varying severity, he said.

Russia may cut oil output by 5% to 7% at the start of next year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Russian state television channel on Friday, detailing a concrete threat of a production cut for the first time.

That production cut may be necessary, Novak said,?because a presidential order is being prepared that includes a ban on the delivery of oil and oil products to countries that impose European Union’s price caps.

“As far as the price cap is concerned, a presidential order is being prepared, it’s almost ready for release. That order will include a ban on the delivery of oil and oil products to those countries and legal entities who will require compliance with the European Union’s price cap in their contracts,” Novak said.

The prices of Brent crude prices were up by 3.6% on Friday, recording its highest level in three weeks.?

Earlier this month, the European Union,?along with the G7 and Australia,?approved a price cap on Russian oil at $60 a barrel. The European Union also prohibits Russian crude oil imports by sea, designed to limit the Kremlin’s revenues.