Air raid sirens sound through Ukraine despite Russian-ordered truce
Vladimir Putin‘s temporary ceasefire for Russian forces appears to have made little difference to the situation in Ukraine, after reports that artillery fire could be heard from the frontline and air raid sirens rang out across Kyiv and other regions.
The Russian president called for a 36-hour ceasefire starting at midday on Friday after the head of the Russian Orthodox church, which uses the Julian calendar, suggested it to mark Christmas.
Russia’s defence ministry said its troops began observing the ceasefire from noon Moscow time “along the entire line of contact”, but said Ukraine had kept shelling populated areas and military positions.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian governor of the frontline eastern Luhansk province, Serhiy Haidai, said that in the first three hours of the purported ceasefire the Russians had shelled Ukrainian positions 14 times and stormed one settlement three times.
“Orthodox murderers wish you a merry Christmas,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
The Ministry of Defence has also reported that fighting has continued “on a routine level” in eastern Ukraine.
Air raid sirens heard in Ukraine despite Russian call for ceasefire
Air raid sirens heard in Ukraine despite Russian call for ceasefire
Daniel Reast7 January 2023 09:15
Russian forces attacking targets in southern Ukraine despite ceasefire, say Ukrainian official
The deputy head of the President Zelensky’s office also told reporters of Russian forces attacking a fire station in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson in an attack which cause several casualties.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko said in response to the Kherson attack, “They talk about a ceasefire. This is who we are at war with.”
Russia’s defence ministry has maintained it was respecting its unilateral ceasefire and accused Ukraine’s forces of continued shelling.
Russian forces withdrew from the port city in November, following brutal fighting and artillery shelling, which sparked celebrations across the country.
Our colleagues Inna Varenytsia and Jamey Keaten reported on the aftermath of Kherson’s liberation in December.
Daniel Reast7 January 2023 09:00
Japan’s prime minister Kyiv visit depending on ‘various circumstances’
Fumio Kishida, prime minster of Japan, is considering a visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, says cabinet secretary.
Any decision to visit Kyiv would be weighed on “various circumstances”, as stated by Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno.
The head of President Zelensky’s presidential office extended an invitation to prime minister Kishida via the country’s ambassador to Japan.
Kishida also held a phone call with president Zelensky on Friday, reaffirming Japan’s support for Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression.
Prime minister Kishida, who is assuming the rotating chair of the G7, is also due to visit the UK next week to sign a defence pact, scheduled in part as a response to shared concerns over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
(Kyodo News)
In a statement to reporters, Kishida said “I strongly condemned Russia’s continued aggression, and stated that Japan would do its utmost to provide assistance, including to get through the winter, in order to protect the lives of the Ukrainian people.”
Daniel Reast7 January 2023 08:30
Fighting in Ukraine has ‘continued at a routine level’ over Orthodox Christmas – MoD
Fighting in Ukraine is continuing to take place over the Orthodox Christmas period, the MoD has reported in its daily intelligence report.
Major fighting is said to be centring on the town of Kremina, in Luhansk Oblast.
The MoD has suggested that Russian generals will ‘highly likely’ consider this fighting around Kremina as a “threat to the right flank of their Bakhmut sector, which they see as key for enabling any future advance to occupy the remainder of Donetsk Oblast.”
Intelligence has also suggested that combat has resorted to “dismounted infantry fighting, often at short range” due to “coniferous woodland providing some cover from air observation even in winter.”
“Both sides are highly likely struggling to accurately adjust artillery fire,” says the minister update.
Daniel Reast7 January 2023 08:15
Ukraine reclaims Kyiv cathedral amid church dispute
The Ukrainian government has taken the main cathedral of the revered historic monastery from the church previously affiliated with Moscow‘s patriarchate and allowed its Ukrainian rival to use it for Orthodox Christmas services.
The move comes as the long-running tensions between the two churches exacerbated amid Russia‘s war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian minister of culture Oleksandr Tkachenko said on Thursday that the Dormition Cathedral and the Refectory Church of the nearly 1,000-year-old Pechersk Lavra — also known as Monastery of the Caves — in the Ukrainian capital have been taken over by the state after the lease of them held by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) expired on 31 December.
Ukraine reclaims Kyiv cathedral amid church dispute
The Ukrainian government has taken the main cathedral of the revered historic Orthodox monastery from the church previously affiliated with Moscow’s patriarchate and allowed its Ukrainian rival to use it for Orthodox Christmas services
Namita Singh7 January 2023 08:00
Putin war aims unchanged but lacks manpower, morale, says Pentagon
President Vladimir Putin’s aim of seizing Ukrainian territory has not changed, but Russian forces continue to suffer from military weaknesses including the amount of troops they have, the Pentagon said yesterday, as Washington hopes the latest record weapons package for Kyiv will help Ukraine retake territory occupied by Russia.
“Putin has not given up his aims of dominating Ukraine and continuing to acquire Ukraine’s territory,” said Laura Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary of defense focusing on Russia and Ukraine.
“But the reality of Russian weaknesses, the Russian armed forces weaknesses has collided with those aims,” Ms Cooper said, adding that Russian troops also suffer from low morale.
Namita Singh7 January 2023 07:45
People in occupied Ukraine town mark Christmas Eve in home after church shelled
Worshippers in the eastern occupied Ukrainian town of Volnovakha yesterday marked the Russian Orthodox Christmas Eve in a makeshift chapel that was set up in a home after their church suffered shelling damage.
Vera Barda, 74, said the congregation had initially met in a tent after the church was hit during what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine.
A priest blesses water for a woman as local residents dressed in national costumes celebrate Epiphany in Kryvorivnya village in the Carpathian Mountains near Ivano-Frankivsk, western Ukraine, 06 January 2023
(EPA)
“I offered the priest (my place) saying there was a stove and electricity, so it was warmer than in a tent … he agreed at once and in three weeks we restored everything,” she said.
During the service, carried out in a converted cramped room decked out in icons, an Orthodox priest dressed in a ceremonial white robe burned incense while the mainly elderly congregation made the sign of the cross.
Namita Singh7 January 2023 07:30
Iranian drone maker sanctioned for supplying Moscow
The US yesterday hit six executives and board members of an Iranian drone manufacturer with sanctions after the firm allegedly supplied Moscow with drones that Russian forces have been using to attack Ukraine.
Qods Aviation Industries, a previously sanctioned Iranian defence manufacturer, is alleged to be responsible for the design and production of unmanned aerial vehicles used to conduct strikes on civilians during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Treasury Department says the firm changed its name to Light Airplanes Design and Manufacturing Industries in mid-2020 to evade sanctions.
Read the details in this report:
Iranian drone maker sanctioned for supplying Moscow
The U.S. has hit six executives and board members of an Iranian drone manufacturer with sanctions after the firm allegedly supplied Moscow with drones that Russian forces have been using to attack Ukraine
Namita Singh7 January 2023 07:15
Putin’s Russian ceasefire falters as US pledges more military equipment to Ukraine
A temporary ceasefire unilaterally imposed by Vladimir Putin on Russia‘s forces in Ukraine appears to have little effect on the ground – with artillery fire ringing out on the frontline (Lucy Skoulding writes).
Russia’s Defence Ministry was at pains to point out that troops were upholding the pause “along the entire line of contact,” accusing Ukraine of shelling Russian-held territory – despite the fact that Kyiv never agreed to the ceasefire, dismissing it as a ploy by Moscow to buy time to reinforce troops that have taken heavy losses.
President Putin ordered the 36-hour ceasefire from midday on Friday (9am GMT) to observe Orthodox Christmas and called on Kyiv to reciprocate. The governor of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine Serhiy Haidai, accused Russian troops of opening fire 14 times during the first three hours of the ceasefire, adding that forces had tried to storm one of the villages liberated by Ukraine in the area.
Explosions were also said to have been heard on other parts of the frontline in the east, which Ukrainian soldiers said were incoming Russian rocket fire.
Liam James7 January 2023 07:00
Russian Orthodox Church backs war in Ukraine
With Vladimir Putin attending midnight Christmas mass, the Russian Orthodox Church has announced its backing for the war in Ukraine. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow on Thursday called for both sides to observe a 36-hour Christmas truce that Putin had announced.
In a service given to mark the Divine Liturgy, Kirill on Friday criticised Ukraine for cracking down on a branch of the Orthodox church with longstanding ties to Moscow.
Russian president Vladimir Putin, background center, attends the Christmas service at the Annunciation Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, 7 January 2023
(AP)
Ukraine’s security service has raided property owned by the church and last month accused a senior cleric of engaging in anti-Ukrainian activity by supporting Russian policies.
“Let us pray for our brothers and sisters and let us believe that someday these diabolical temptations will recede,” said Kirill, mocking what he called “the pathetic attempts” by Kyiv to destroy the church in Ukraine.
Namita Singh7 January 2023 06:45