December 27, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Jessie Yeung, Ivana Kottasová, Laura Smith-Spark, Aditi Sangal, Leinz Vales, Mike Hayes and Maureen Chowdhury, CNN

Updated 2:22 a.m. ET, December 28, 2022

What we covered here

Heavy fighting continued in the eastern Ukrainian town of Kreminna, a Ukrainian official said, as Russia brings in large numbers of troops to bolster its forces there.
Moscow shelled multiple parts of southern Ukraine Tuesday, killing at least one person in a town and hitting a maternity ward in the city of Kherson.
Putin's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Ukraine must fulfill Moscow's proposals regarding its "new territories" — four occupied regions of Ukraine — or the Russian military would take action, state media reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the situation in front-line areas as "difficult, painful," saying some 9 million people were cut off from power in different regions. Ukraine's energy minister warned New Year's Eve could see "maximum damage to the energy system" due to Russian shelling.

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7:41 p.m. ET, December 26, 2022

Putin says he is ready to "negotiate with everyone involved" regarding Ukraine

From CNN's Josh Pennington and Hira Humayun

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.

"I don't think it is so dangerous, I think we are moving in the right direction, protecting our national interests and the interests of our citizens, our people. And we simply have no other choice but to protect our citizens," Putin said. "We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved in this process about acceptable solutions, but it's up to them. It's not us who is refusing to negotiate, it's them.”

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

Russia “single-handedly attacked Ukraine and is killing citizens,” Podolyak added. “Russia doesn’t want negotiations, but tries to avoid responsibility. This is obvious, so we are moving to the Tribunal.”

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.

7:40 p.m. ET, December 26, 2022

Russia puts foreign investigative journalist on its "wanted" list

From CNN's Anna Chernova and Ivana Kottasová

Russia has put the investigative journalist Christo Grozev on its “wanted” list, according to the Russian Interior Ministry.

Grozev, who is Bulgarian, is the lead Russia investigator at the journalism group Bellingcat.

Information published on the ministry’s website said he was “wanted under an article of the Criminal Code,” without specifying the exact article.

According to the independent human rights monitor OVD-Info, a criminal case on disseminating “fake news” about the Russian army has been opened against Grozev.

The Russian government adopted a law criminalizing the dissemination of what it calls “deliberately false” information about the Russian armed forces in early March, just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The maximum penalty under the law is 15 years in prison.

Read more here.

7:27 p.m. ET, December 26, 2022

Three Russian servicemen killed after drone shot down at air base inside Russia

From CNN's Josh Pennington, Olga Voitovych and Jessie Yeung

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 air base, 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.”

Read more here.