Russian bombardments in eastern Ukraine ramped up overnight, killing two people, as Ukraine hit Russia's Engels military airfield in the country's southwest region of Saratov with drones. Both Russia and Ukraine stepped up aerial attacks in the early hours of Thursday as United States President Donald Trump pushes both sides to agree to a ceasefire after more than three years of fighting. Ukrainian officials in the northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv regions said two people were killed and several others injured after Russia dropped more than three dozen glide bombs on the towns in the border regions. Russian drone attacks on the town of Kropyvnytskyi, hundreds of kilometres from the front line, wounded 14 people and damaged rail infrastructure. "Kropyvnytskyi underwent the most massive enemy attack. Peaceful residential buildings were destroyed," regional governor Andriy Raikovych said.

Russia has launched several strikes across Ukraine, killing at least five people and wounding several, in an attack that appeared to target energy infrastructure. Ukraine also launched a drone attack on Russia's central region of Saratov, injuring four. The exchange began around midnight on Sunday and continued beyond daybreak on Monday. Ukraine's air force reported multiple groups of Russian drones moving towards its eastern, northern, southern, and central regions, followed by numerous cruise and ballistic missiles. Authorities in at least six Ukrainian regions said blasts had been heard.

Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich joined'America's Newsroom' to discuss Zelenskyy's visit to the White House to request additional aid in the war against Russia. Russian forces continued to wage war on Ukraine over the holiday weekend, with more than 40 missiles being launched into Ukrainian towns on Christmas day, according to Ukraine's military. According to Russian news agencies, which cited the country's defense ministry, three Russian military personnel were killed Monday by falling wreckage of a Ukrainian drone that was shot down as it was on its way to attack a base in Russia's Saratov region. Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated Sunday that he was open to negotiations and accused Ukraine and its Western allies of not engaging in talks. The U.S. has previously dismissed this stance from Russia as posturing given the ongoing attack on Ukraine.

Three Russian military personnel have been killed from the debris of a Ukrainian drone that was shot down and fell on a military base deep inside Russia, the country's defence ministry has said. "On December 26, at about 01:35 Moscow time, a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down at low altitude while approaching the Engels military airfield in the Saratov region," the Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday. "As a result of the fall of the wreckage of the drone, three Russian servicemen of the technical staff who were at the airfield were fatally wounded." The ministry added that aviation equipment was not damaged. Earlier on Monday, Roman Busargin, the governor of the Saratov region, said that civil infrastructure facilities were not damaged in the incident either.