President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine is sending reinforcements to defend two front-line towns in the Donetsk region that he called among the bloodiest in the fight against Russia’s invasion. Earlier Sunday, Kyiv rejected as “nonsense” a Russian government claim that Kremlin troops killed 600 Ukrainian soldiers in an overnight strike.
(Bloomberg) —
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine is sending reinforcements to defend two front-line towns in the Donetsk region that he called among the bloodiest in the fight against Russia’s invasion. Earlier Sunday, Kyiv rejected as “nonsense” a Russian government claim that Kremlin troops killed 600 Ukrainian soldiers in an overnight strike.
The rocket attack on Kramatorsk was said to be retaliation for the New Year’s Day rocket attack on Makiyivka that killed at least 89 Russian troops. Ukrainian officials said the Donetsk region city was hit by Russian missiles, but that military targets weren’t affected.
A 36-hour cease-fire declared by Russia over Orthodox Christmas ended Saturday night and Zelenskiy said Russian troops had violated Vladimir Putin’s order, continuing to shell Ukrainian positions including Bakhmut.
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On the Ground
Zelenskiy said Ukrainian reinforcements will be sent to Bakhmut and Soledar in an area where Ukraine says Russia has been on the offensive. Ukrainian aviation delivered 21 strikes at Russian strongholds and three strikes at Russian anti-aircraft complexes. Three Russian reconnaissance drones were downed. A UN mission delivering humanitarian aid to Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region came under Russian shelling, regional governor Oleksandr Starukh said. A civilian was killed in missile strikes on the town of Merefa in the Kharkiv region.
(All times CET)
Zelenskiy Announces More Troops for Bakhmut, Soledar (9:30 p.m.)
Ukraine’s army is transferring additional units to defend Bakhmut and Soledar in the Donetsk region against Russian forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
The situation on the front line hasn’t significantly changed in the first week of the year and remains difficult, he said. Near Bakhmut, a front-line city that has been largely destroyed during months of fighting, Ukrainian forces are repelling Russian attacks, he said.
Sweden Says Turkey’s NATO Demands Go Too Far (7:10 p.m.)
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Turkey’s demands to clear his country for NATO membership are excessive.
While Turkey has confirmed that Sweden has done what it said it would do, “they also say that they want things that we cannot and do not want to give them,” Kristersson told a security conference in Sweden on Sunday. “And now the decision rests with Turkey.”
Turkey has objected to Sweden and Finland joining NATO since they put in bids in May, saying they need to do more to combat terrorism, including extraditing people whom Turkey accuses of terrorist links.
Senior Republican Seeks Scrutiny of Ukraine Funding (6:15 p.m.)
Representative Jim Jordan, a senior House Republican, called for scrutiny of US funding for Ukraine fight against Russia, saying the US national debt of more than $31 trillion means “you had better look at everything” the government spends.
“Frankly, we’d better look at the money we send to Ukraine as well and say, how can we best spend the money to protect America?” he said on “Fox News Sunday.
While US security assistance to Ukraine has bipartisan support, Republicans have vowed to curb federal spending after winning control of the House in November.
Russian Claim of Deadly Strike is ‘Nonsense,’ Ukrainian Official Tells CNN (5:30 p.m.)
A Ukrainian military official denied the Russian defense ministry’s claim that it killed 600 Ukrainian troops overnight in a missile attack on Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region.
“This is nonsense,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesman for Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, told CNN. Journalists in the area said they saw no evidence of casualties or other unusual activity.
Cherevatyi told the Suspilne Novyny website that Kremlin forces don’t have the means to deliver high-precision strikes and that Sunday’s claim was an “informational operation.” Photos on social media of a school allegedly hit by a Russian missile appeared to show an empty building.
Russia and Ukraine Each Swap 50 Prisoners (3 p.m.)
Servicemen from the Ukraine’s armed forces, territorial defense, national guard and other units, including 33 officers and 17 soldiers captured in Mariupol, Kyiv, Kherson and the Donetsk region, were returned to Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, head of presidential staff, said on Telegram.
Russia’s defense ministry confirmed the swap, saying 50 military personnel had been returned after negotiations, and would be flown to Moscow for treatment and rehabilitation.
It was the 36th such exchange between Ukraine and Russia since the Kremlin’s invasion, which is well into its 11th month.
Russia Claims it Killed Hundreds in Retaliatory Strike on Kramatorsk (1:50 p.m.)
Russia’s defense ministry said it carried out a “retaliatory operation” in the Donetsk region to seek revenge for Ukraine’s rocket strike on Makiyivka on New Year’s Day that, by official account, killed at least 89 Russian troops.
“More than 600 Ukrainian servicemen” were “eliminated” in a “massive missile strike” on about 1,300 troops housed in two buildings in Kramatorsk, the ministry said in a daily report. The report couldn’t be verified and top Ukrainian officials made no comment.
Oleksandr Honcharenko, mayor of Kramatorsk, said missile attacks Saturday night damaged two schools and eight residential buildings. No civilian casualties were reported.
Warm Winter Defuses Putin’s Energy Gambit (9:52 a.m.)
Mild weather, an expanded array of suppliers and efforts to reduce demand are taking the sting out of Vladimir Putin’s plan to squeeze Europe by weaponizing energy. Gas reserves are still nearly full, and prices have tumbled to pre-war levels.
“The danger of a complete economic meltdown, a core meltdown of European industry, has — as far as we can see — been averted,” said German Economy Minister Robert Habeck.
Read more: Putin’s Energy Gambit Fizzles as Warm Winter Saves Europe
Luhansk Region Gas Pipe Blast Leaves 13,000 People Without Gas (9 a.m.)
An explosion at a gas pipeline near Luthuhyne in Luhansk on Saturday left about 13,000 people without gas supplies, Interfax reported. Gas service was gradually being restored on Sunday, TASS reported.
A preliminary investigation showed the blast was deliberate, the newswire said, citing emergency ministry of the occupation administration.
Ukraine PM Says Russia Has Created a Massive Minefield (8:30 a.m.)
Russia’s war has resulted in a minefield of some 250,000 square kilometers (96,000 square miles), Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. That would be roughly the size of the UK.
“It is currently the largest minefield in the world,” Shmyhal said in an interview published on Sunday. “It’s not only making it difficult for people to travel, but also causing major disruptions in farming, which is one of our main industries.”
Russia Bracing for New Ukrainian Counteroffensive, UK Says (8 a.m.)
Kremlin troops have bolstered defensive fortifications in central Zaporizhzhia Oblast in anticipation of a major Ukrainian counteroffensive either in northern Luhansk or in Zaporizhzhia, the UK defense ministry said in a Twitter Update.
“Deciding which of these threats to prioritize countering is likely one of the central dilemmas for Russian operational planners,” the UK said.
Zelenskiy Says Russia Breached Its Own Cease-Fire (7:10 p.m.)
Russian forces are violating their own cease-fire, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. He said Russian shells again hit Bakhmut, a city’s that has been embattled for months, and other Ukrainian positions.
The president noted the number of Ukrainian soldiers who attended a Christmas service in the 11th-century Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv, where services were held in Ukrainian for the first time in decades.
Ukraine Sanctions Russian Singers, Actors and Propagandists (5 p.m.)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a decree Saturday imposing sanctions on 119 individuals, most of them Russian show business and film stars, as well as media personalities.
The list includes Vienna-based opera singer Anna Netrebko, Oscar-winning movie director Nikita Mikhalkov and pop singer Dmitry (Dima) Bilan, who has performed at the Eurovision song contest.
The list also includes nationalist ideologist Alexander Dugin, whose daughter was killed in a car bombing in August; Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of state-run RT media group; and the heads of think-tanks known to advise the Kremlin, including Fyodor Lukyanov and Sergei Karaganov.
Zelenskiy Aide Says Russia Firing ‘Along the Entire Contact Line’ (2:30 p.m.)
Russian forces are firing “along the entire contact line” as the 36-hour cease-fire declared by President Vladimir Putin enters its final hours, Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter, without offering more details.
The halt in hostilities, tied by Putin to Orthodox Christmas holiday, is scheduled to end at midnight Moscow time, or 10pm CET.
Russia’s defense ministry said Saturday its troops were repelling Ukrainian offensives in the Donetsk region.
Pope Francis Calls for ‘Concrete Steps Toward Peace’ (2 p.m.)
In extending best wishes to members of the Eastern churches celebrating Orthodox Christmas on Saturday, the pontiff sent greetings “in particular” to “the suffering people of Ukraine” and called for concrete steps toward peace.
Ukraine Envoy Urges Haste in German Military Support (12 p.m.)
Ukraine’s ambassador to Berlin warned against delays in decisions on future military support, days after Germany’s government announced it would supply Kyiv with Marder infantry fighting vehicles. Oleksii Makeiev said he was optimistic that Leopard tanks might be offered next.
The Iris-T air defense system and Gepard anti-aircraft tanks previously provided by Germany are having “fantastic” success in intercepting Russian missiles and drones, and the Marders “will benefit our ground forces enormously,” Makeiev told WirtschaftsWoche.
It’s understandable that Germany wants to coordinate decisions with its partners, “but it is crucial not to hesitate too long in supplying weapons. Every day costs us many lives,” Makeiev said.
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