Air alerts blared across Ukraine and officials urged civilians to take shelter from a wave of deadly Russian missile strikes that caused major power outages. The strikes followed what the Kremlin said were Ukrainian drone attacks on two air bases deep inside Russian territory. Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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10:30pm: Ukrainian air defence systems shot down nine out of 10 missiles directed at Kyiv region, say officials
"It was a day of a record success rate for Ukraine's air defence systems. They claim to have shot down more than 60 of about 70 missiles that were fired from Russia towards various targets in Ukraine [. . . ] In terms of Kyiv region and the capital, nine out of 10 missiles were apparently shot down", reports FRANCE 24 correspondent Gulliver Cragg.
9:56pm: White House says it is not surprised by Russian reaction to oil price cap
The White House said on Monday that it was not surprised by Russia's reaction to the West's price cap on oil from the country.
Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said the cap can be adjusted over time to prevent Russia from profiting from the war in Ukraine while keeping Russian crude in the market.
7:05pm: Ukraine energy operator warns of emergency cuts in all regions due to Russian strikes
Ukrainian energy operator Ukrenergo warned Monday that emergency shutdowns would be applied across Ukraine as the country contends with the consequences of a new wave of Russian attacks.
"Due to the consequences of shelling ... to maintain the balance between the production and consumption of electricity, a regime of emergency shutdowns will be introduced in all regions of Ukraine. In priority, electricity will be supplied to critical infrastructure facilities," Ukrenergo said on Telegram.
"The situation is difficult, but under control," the operator said, after Kyiv's forces announced they destroyed more than 60 out of 70 missiles launched by Moscow on Monday.
6:38pm: More animal eyes sent to Ukrainian embassy in Spain
Three parcels containing animal eyes and addressed to Ukraine's embassy in Madrid and consulates in Barcelona and Malaga were intercepted at offices of the national postal company, Spanish police said Monday.
Seven European countries, including Spain, reported Friday that similar packages had arrived at their Ukrainian embassies or consulates last week. Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican also reported that the entrance to his Rome residence was vandalized Thursday afternoon with what he believed to be animal feces.
A security guard at the Ukrainian embassy in Spain's capital was injured November 30 while opening a parcel addressed to the ambassador. Four more letters containing explosive devices were intercepted during the next 24 hours, including one sent to the US embassy in Madrid.
6:29pm: Russia says it downed Ukraine drones attacking its bases
The Russian defence ministry said it shot down Ukrainian drones that attacked two Russian air bases early Monday, and that three Russian servicemen were killed by debris in the assaults.
Four other Russian servicemen were wounded by fragments of the drones that were intercepted at the bases in the Saratov and Ryazan regions, the defence ministry said in Moscow.
The ministry added that two Russian aircraft were slightly damaged by drone fragments.
Ukraine has not directly commented on the cause of the blasts at the bases.
6:19pm: White House condemns latest Russian strikes against Ukraine
The White House said on Monday the latest Russian strikes against Ukraine are a reminder of Russian President Vladimir Putin's brutality.
John Kirby, White House national security spokesperson, also told reporters that a price cap on Russian oil will not have any long-term impact on global oil prices.
5:12pm: ICC chief prosecutor criticises EU proposal for tribunal for war crimes in Ukraine
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday denounced an EU proposal to create an UN-backed special tribunal to prosecute crimes in Ukraine, saying his court was capable of effectively dealing with war crimes committed there.
Karim Khan pushed back against the plan European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced last week to establish a special court to prosecute Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The EU has misstated the law,” Khan told reporters, defending his institution’s ability to prosecute high-ranking political figures.
>> The FRANCE 24 Interview: Russia is not cooperating with us on Ukraine, ICC says
The Hague-based ICC has launched an investigation into war crimes in Ukraine but cannot prosecute the crime of aggression – the act of invading another country –because the Russian Federation is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the court.
4:41pm: UN rights chief moves Kyiv meeting underground as sirens sound
The UN rights chief said Monday he had met with activists in an underground shelter in Kyiv as missiles rained down, warning against allowing the situation to become "a new normal".
Volker Turk, who took over as the UN high commissioner for human rights in October, arrived on Sunday for a four-day visit to Ukraine, which has been ravaged by war since Russia's full-scale invasion in February.
He had scheduled to meet with a number of human rights defenders in Kyiv on Monday, but then air raid sirens sounded and they had to move into an underground shelter.
4:13pm: Zelensky says air defences shot down 'most' Russian missiles
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that his country's military had shot down a majority of Russian missiles fired earlier in the day towards critical infrastructure targets.
"Air defence forces shot down most of the missiles. Engineers have already begun to restore electricity. Our people never give up," Zelensky said in a video statement on social media.
3:28pm: Putin visits Crimea bridge after October blast, says state TV
President Vladimir Putin on Monday visited a bridge that links Moscow-annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland weeks after the vital link was hit by a blast, images on state television showed.
It was the closest the 70-year-old Russian leader has come to the frontline in Ukraine, after sending troops to the pro-Western country on February 24.
Putin drove a Mercedes across the bridge as Russia re-opened it to traffic following an October blast Moscow blamed on Ukraine.
The Kremlin chief also heard a report from Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin about repair work on the bridge and spoke to construction workers.
3:19pm: Putin briefed about airfield incidents, says Kremlin
President Vladimir Putin on Monday was briefed about incidents at airfields in the central Saratov and Ryazan regions, the Kremlin said.
News reports said two Russian airfields including a base for the country's strategic aircraft, which Kyiv says have been used to strike Ukraine, had been rocked by explosions.
The reports have sparked speculation that Ukraine might be behind the blasts. Both sites are hundreds of kilometres away from Ukraine's border.
State news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti, citing representatives of emergency services, said that three people were killed as a result of an explosion of a fuel tanker at an airfield near the city of Ryazan.
Another five people were wounded, said TASS.
1:57pm: Air raid sirens across Ukraine, two killed in missile attack in south
Ukraine officials in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia say two people have been killed by Russian missiles as authorities in several regions urge residents to shelter from the latest Russian missile barrage.
The head of the Zaporizhzhia region said two people were killed and two more injured in attacks that damaged residential homes, while Kyiv region officials said air defences were repelling Russian attacks and several regional governors called on residents to take shelter.
1:44pm: NATO policy risks 'direct clash' between nuclear powers, says Russia's Lavrov
NATO is a "serious threat" to Russia, and the West's positions risked a "direct clash between nuclear powers with catastrophic consequences", Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned.
Lavrov also said he regretted that the US had rejected talks with Moscow over "strategic stability" - a host of issues related to nuclear weapons – and said that without direct talks between the world's two largest nuclear powers, the risk to global security would only grow.
11:20am: Russia says oil price cap 'will not affect' Ukraine offensive
The Kremlin says a $60 price cap on Russian oil exports agreed by the EU, G7 and Australia will not affect Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine.
"The economy of the Russian Federation has all the necessary potential to fully meet the needs and requirements of the special military operation. These measures will not affect this," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, using Moscow's term for the Ukraine offensive.
11:05am: In occupied Kherson, ‘the Russians were destroying all books in Ukrainian’
During the Russian occupation of Kherson, only one third of schools remained open in the southern Ukrainian city. Many teachers refused to work as all teaching had to be done in Russian.
FRANCE 24’s reporters spoke to Tatyana, one of many teachers yearning to return to school despite daily Russian strikes on their city.
9:21am: Nine killed in shelling of Russian-held town in eastern Ukraine
Russian-backed military officials in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region say nine people were killed after Ukraine shelled the city of Alchevsk, the state-run TASS news agency has reported.
8:24am: Kremlin ally joins tech giant Yandex as senior adviser
Alexei Kudrin, a long-time ally of President Vladimir Putin, is set to join Yandex, Russia's most prominent independent tech company that has in recent years succumbed to the Kremlin's tightening grip.
"I accepted an offer from Yandex to become a corporate development adviser. Together with the management, I will develop the corporate structures of the new holding, which will ensure the long-term and sustainable development of the company on all markets, including international ones," Kudrin, a former finance minister, said on social media.
6:05am: Russia tribunal faces major hurdles, experts say
While Ukraine and the West dream of a tribunal that could put Vladimir Putin in the dock for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, experts warn such a court would face formidable challenges.
The EU has proposed a "specialised court" backed by the UN to prosecute Russia's "crime of aggression", in one of the most concrete steps so far.
The plan would get around the fact that the International Criminal Court (ICC) can investigate war crimes in Ukraine, but cannot try the "leadership" crime of aggression in Russia's case.
Yet serious questions remain about a special court's feasibility and legitimacy – let alone about whether the Kremlin or Russian military leaders would ever end up on trial.
"On both legal and practical levels there are considerable obstacles," Cecily Rose, assistant professor of public international law at Leiden University, told AFP.
1:28am: Ukraine, Baltics rebuke Macron for suggesting 'security guarantees' for Russia
French President Emmanuel Macron's suggestion the West should consider Russia's need for security guarantees if Moscow agrees to talks to end the war in Ukraine unleashed a storm of criticism in Kyiv and its Baltic allies over the weekend.
In an interview with French TV station TF1, Macron said that Europe needs to prepare its future security architecture and also think "how to give guarantees to Russia the day it returns to the negotiating table."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's top aide, Mykhailo Podolyak, said that it is the world that needs security guarantees from Russia, not the other way around.
"Civilized world needs 'security guarantees' from barbaric intentions of post-Putin Russia," Podolyak said on Twitter on Sunday.
12:08am: G7 price cap on Russian seaborne oil kicks in
The Group of Seven price cap on Russian seaborne oil came into force on Monday as the West tries to limit Moscow's ability to finance its war in Ukraine, but Russia has said it will not abide by the measure even if it has to cut production.
The price cap, to be enforced by the G7, the European Union and Australia, comes on top of the EU's embargo on imports of Russian crude by sea and similar pledges by the United States, Canada, Japan and Britain.
It allows Russian oil to be shipped to third-party countries using G7 and EU tankers, insurance companies and credit institutions, only if the cargo is bought at or below the price cap.
Russia, the world's second-largest oil exporter, said on Sunday it would not accept the cap and would not sell oil that is subject to it, even if it has to cut production.
FRANCE 24's Correspondent Nick Holdsworth tells us more.
11:05pm: US intel chief thinking 'optimistically' for Ukraine forces
The head of US intelligence says fighting in Russia’s war in Ukraine is running at a “reduced tempo” and suggests Ukrainian forces could have brighter prospects in coming months.
Avril Haines alluded to past allegations by some that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s advisers could be shielding him from bad news — for Russia — about war developments, and said he “is becoming more informed of the challenges that the military faces in Russia.”
“But it’s still not clear to us that he has a full picture of at this stage of just how challenged they are,” Haines, the US director of national intelligence, said Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
