TOP HEADLINES

· Russia said it had shot down a Ukrainian drone close to Engels airbase, in Saratov, south east of Moscow, which is used for long-range bombers and that three Russian air force personnel had been killed by debris. READ MORE BELOW

· Roman Busargin, governor of the Saratov region, said that civil infrastructure facilities had not been damaged in the latest incident at the Engels airbase, which he said the authorities were investigating. "There is absolutely no threat to residents ... Civil infrastructure facilities were not damaged," Busargin said.

· Ukraine's military said early on Monday that Russian forces had in the previous 24 hours shelled dozens of towns in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzia regions. "In the Kherson direction, the enemy continues artillery shelling of populated areas along the right bank of the Dnipro River," it said.

· Ukraine called for Russia to be removed as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and accused it of violating international law.

· Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he sought India's help with implementing a "peace formula" in a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I had a phone call with PM Narendra Modi and wished a successful G20 presidency," he said. "It was on this platform that I announced the peace formula and now I count on India's participation in its implementation."

· Russia's FSB security service said that a four-person Ukrainian "sabotage group" had been "liquidated" while trying on Sunday to enter Russia's Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported.

· An adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin needed to return to reality and acknowledge it was Russia that did not want talks. "Russia single-handedly attacked Ukraine and is killing citizens. Russia doesn't want negotiations, but tries to avoid responsibility," Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter. 

· Russia's long-range air forces are to be refitted with new wing-borne hypersonic missiles, the Interfax news agency reported on Monday, citing the force's commanding officer.

· Russian attacks on Ukraine's power stations have left millions without electricity, and Zelenskyy said Moscow would aim to make the last days of 2022 dark and difficult. "Russia has lost everything it could this year. ... I know darkness will not prevent us from leading the occupiers to new defeats. But we have to be ready for any scenario," he said in a Christmas Day address.

· Russia's defense ministry said on Sunday its forces had killed about 60 Ukrainian servicemen the previous day along the Kupiansk-Lyman line of contact and destroyed numerous pieces of Ukrainian military equipment.

· Russian-supplied Iskander tactical missile systems, which can carry nuclear warheads, and S-400 air defense systems have been deployed to Belarus and are operational, a senior Belarusian defence ministry official said. "These types of weapons are on combat duty today and they are fully prepared to perform tasks for their intended purpose," ministry official Leonid Kasinsky said.

· 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 defense ministry.

IN DETAIL

Drone shot down at Russian airbase kills three from debris  

Russia said on Monday it had shot down a Ukrainian drone close to one of its air bases for long-range bombers deep inside its own territory and that three Russian air force personnel had been killed by debris.

The drone was allegedly flying near Russia's Engels air base where long-range strategic bombers that may have been used to target Ukrainian cities and infrastructure are based. No planes were damaged in the incident, the defense ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

Unverified Russian and Ukrainian social media accounts reported that a number of planes had been destroyed.

The air base, one of two strategic bomber bases housing Russia's air-delivered nuclear capability, is located near the city of Saratov, about 450 miles southeast of Moscow and hundreds of miles from the frontlines in Ukraine.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which has never publicly claimed responsibility for attacks inside Russia but calls them "karma" for Russia's attacks.

The same base was attacked earlier this month by Ukrainian drones, Russia said at the time.

"A Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) was shot down at low altitude while approaching the Engels military airfield in the Saratov region," the defense ministry statement, published on Monday, said.

"Three Russian servicemen of the technical staff who were at the airfield were fatally wounded as a result of falling drone wreckage."

Russia has 60 to 70 strategic bomber planes of two types - the Tu-95MS Bear and the Tu-160 Blackjack. Both are capable of carrying nuclear bombs and nuclear-armed cruise missiles as well as conventional munitions.

Moscow has used its air force to fire cruise missiles in what it calls its "special military operation" to degrade Ukraine's military potential. Kyiv has said such attacks amount to war crimes and has likened Russia to a terrorist state.

The earlier December 5 strike on the same base, along with another attack the same day on another base, raised questions about the effectiveness of Russian air defenses and shocked Russian commentators.

If Ukraine could strike that far inside Russia, it may also be capable of hitting Moscow, they said on social media.

Earlier on Monday, Roman Busargin, governor of the Saratov region, said that civil infrastructure facilities had not been damaged in the latest incident at the base, which he said the authorities were investigating.

"There is absolutely no threat to residents ... Civil infrastructure facilities were not damaged," Busargin said.