Monitoring Desk
MOSCOW: Moscow announced to end of a self-declared Christmas ceasefire with Ukraine and vowed to push on with combat until it reaches a victory over its neighbour. An overnight Russian bombing in eastern Ukraine killed at least one, local officials said on Sunday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday announced a 36-hour ceasefire along the line of contact to observe Ukraine and Russia’s Orthodox Christmas, which fell on Saturday. Ukraine had rejected the ceasefire, and there was shelling along the frontline.
As a result of Russia’s shelling, a 50-year-old man died in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, Oleh Sinehubov, the Kharkiv governor, said on Telegram.
Most Ukrainian Orthodox Christians celebrated Christmas on January 7 as per tradition, as have Russian Orthodox Christians. However, this year, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the largest in the country, also allowed a December 25 celebration. Still, several observed the holiday on Saturday, flocking into cathedrals and Churches.
Moscow hopes for victory
The Kremlin said Russia would press ahead with what it says is a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Still, Kyiv and its Western allies call the invasion an unprovoked aggression to grab territory.
“The tasks set by the Russian President Putin for the special military operation will still be completed,” the Russian state TASS agency quoted Sergei Kiriyenko, President’s first deputy chief of staff, as saying.
He said there would definitely be a victory for Russia.
There is no visible end to the Ukraine war, which has killed thousands, displaced millions and destroyed Ukrainian cities.
Ukrainian authorities also reported explosions in regions that make up the broader Donbas region.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, the Donetsk region’s governor, said there were nine missile attacks on the region overnight, including seven on Kramatorsk city. According to initial information, there were no casualties in the missile strikes.
Explosions were also heard in Zaporizhzhia city, the administrative centre of the Zaporizhzhia region, a local official informed, without giving any immediate report on casualties or damage.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia is planning a major fresh offensive. The Pentagon said Friday that President Putin’s aim of seizing Ukrainian land has not changed, even if his military continues to suffer blows.
There have been growing concerns that Belarus could be used as a staging post to attack Ukraine from the north after mounting military activity in the country and the latest transfer of Russian forces there.
Unauthorized Telegram channels monitoring military activity in Belarus reported on Saturday that around 1,400 to 1,600 Russian troops arrived from Russia in the northeastern Vitebsk city in Belarus over the past two days.
