Russia has said its air defence forces have shot down four US-made HARM missiles over the western oblast of Belgorod.
In a statement, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said all the AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) were shot down during the previous 24 hours. “Four American 'Harm' anti-radar missiles were shot down in the airspace over the Belgorod region.”
Washington sent that type of missiles to Ukraine in mid-August. The projectiles are reportedly used by Ukraine’s MiG-29 and Su-27 aircraft.
Belgorod's governor says at least one person was killed and several people were injured by Ukrainian shelling in the region on Sunday morning.
Furthermore, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said air defense forces also managed to shoot down several combat drones sent by Ukraine. “In the past 24 hours, air defense capabilities shot down eight Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the areas of the settlements of Melovatka, Ploshchanka and Nizhnyaya Duvanka in the Luhansk People’s Republic, Volnovakha and Nikolayevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Priyutnoye in the Zaporozhye region and Kairy in the Kherson region.”
Donetsk and Luhansk, located in eastern Ukraine, as well as Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south of the ex-Soviet republic, joined the Russian Federation following referendums held in the regions back in September.
“In addition, six rockets from HIMARS and Uragan multiple-launch rocket systems were intercepted in the areas of the settlements of Solodke, Debaltseve in the Donetsk People's Republic, Kreminna in the Luhansk People's Republic and Lyubymivka in Zaporizhzhia region,” Konashenkov said.
Russia started what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine on February 24, with the declared aim of "de-Nazifying" the country. Since the onset of the war, the United States and its European allies have imposed waves of unprecedented economic sanctions against Moscow while supplying large consignments of heavy weaponry to Kiev. The Kremlin says the sanctions and the Western military assistance will prolong the war.
Putin insists no plan to absorb Belarus
President Vladimir Putin denied plans to absorb Belarus as he paid a rare visit Monday to the country whose strongman assisted his invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
Putin flew into Minsk with his defence and foreign ministers in tow, hours after Russian forces launched a swarm of attack drones at critical infrastructure in Kyiv, which provoked emergency blackouts in a dozen regions.
Putin said that Russia and Belarus -- slapped with new Western sanctions since President Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner of a sixth term in 2020 elections widely criticised as fraudulent -- were "united by a common history and spiritual values".
Putin called the countries "closest allies and strategic partners" but said that rumours that Russia sought to take over Belarus came from "ill-wishers".
"Russia has no interest in absorbing anyone, this would simply make no sense," Putin said.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price scoffed at Putin's remarks.
"I think a statement like that has to be treated as the height of irony coming from a leader who is seeking at the present moment -- right now -- to violently absorb his other, peaceful next-door neighbour," Price said.
"We have seen the Lukashenko regime essentially cede its sovereignty -- cede its independence -- to Russia," Price said.
Belarus has let Russian forces use its territory and hours before Putin touched down in Minsk, Moscow released footage of drills with Belarusian forces including tank manoeuvres and sniper fire at a snow-dusted training ground.
Lukashenko urged closer military cooperation and said that Russia and Belarus are "open for dialogue with other states, including European ones."
"I hope that soon they will listen to the voice of reason," Lukashenko said.
Speculation mounted ahead of the Russian leader's visit that he would pressure Lukashenko to send troops to Ukraine to fight alongside the Russians after Moscow suffered a string of defeats in nearly 10 months of fighting.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, dismissed the reports "as totally stupid, groundless fabrications."
In October, Belarus announced the formation of a joint regional force with Moscow with several thousand Russian servicemen arriving in the ex-Soviet country.
- New explosions near Kyiv -
The drone attacks wounded three people near Kyiv. They came as Russia said it shot down several US-made missiles over its airspace near Ukraine.
"I first heard the air raid siren... I thought there is going to be a drone attack. For the first time, it scared me," said Natalia Dobrovolska, a 68-year-old resident of Kyiv.
She described hearing multiple explosions before power shut off in her building in western Kyiv. Officials said Russia had flown in 35 attack drones nationwide, including 23 over Kyiv.
Ukraine said it downed 30 of the aerial weapons, including Iranian-made "Shaheds", which have pummelled the capital in recent weeks.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said critical infrastructure facilities were damaged while regional authorities said nine homes had been scarred by the attacks.
Ukraine has experienced frequent and deadly aerial attacks. After a series of battlefield setbacks, Moscow stepped up its aerial campaign to target the country's energy grid.
- Russia 'must fail' -
With winter setting in, missile and drone attacks have plunged cities around the country into darkness, and severed water and heat supplies to millions of Ukrainians.
Speaking to the leaders of several NATO countries via video link on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Ukraine's allies to supply its military with more weapons.
"Russian aggression can and must fail. And our task now is to accelerate it," he told the leaders assembled in Riga.
He said in a late-night address Sunday that some nine million of Ukraine's estimated 40 million people had their electricity restored after Russia's previous missile barrage last week.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a year-end news conference, said with regret that he expected the war "will go on."
"I am not optimistic about the possibility of effective peace talks in the immediate future," Guterres said.
- Gas price cap -
The West has sought to keep the pressure on Russia. European Union ministers, after months of wrangling, on Monday decided on a price gap on Russian natural gas, following an agreement that came in force this month on Russian oil.
The price ceiling on natural gas was fixed at 180 euros per megawatt hour, although the European Commission said it may suspend the cap if "the risks outweigh the benefits" following protracted negotiations involving Germany, the continent's largest economy which backs Ukraine but is highly dependent on imported energy.
"It wasn't an easy thing to achieve," Maltese Energy Minister Miriam Dalli said.
The Kremlin lashed out at the latest measure, with Peskov saying the cap was "unacceptable" and a violation of market processes.
Russia, China to hold joint naval drills
Separately on Monday, the Russian Defence Ministry said Russia and China would hold joint naval drills between December 21 and 27. The military maneuvers, which have been an annual undertaking since 2012, will involve missile and artillery firing in the East China Sea. “The main purpose of the exercises is to strengthen naval cooperation between Russia and China, and maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region,” the ministry stated.
Shortly prior to the onset of the war, Moscow and Beijing signed a "no limits" strategic partnership.
The ministry said four of its vessels would take part in the drills – including the Varyag missile cruiser – while six Chinese vessels would take part, along with aircraft and helicopters from both sides.
Late last month, air forces of the two sides carried out joint military exercises in the Asia-Pacific region. Russia and China have carried out several other drills in recent years, including naval exercises in the Sea of Japan and East China Sea. Russian troops were deployed to Chinese territory for maneuvers for the first time in 2021.