End of Russia’s Truce Declared In Ukraine War

kyiv accused the Russian army of not having respected the ceasefire, while Moscow in return accused the Ukrainians of having prevented its application.

Ukrainians Celebrated Orthodox Christmas

Ukrainians celebrated Orthodox Christmas on Saturday in the middle of the war, sometimes even in underground shelters, and the 36-hour truce announced without convincing by Vladimir Putin ended without the hostilities having really ceased.

“The world was able to see once again today how untruthful all the words spoken at the highest level in Moscow are,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message released in the evening. “They talked about an alleged ceasefire… but the reality is that the Russian shells continued to hit Bakhmout (east, editor’s note) and the other Ukrainian positions”, he added, hammering that the only solution was “the expulsion of the Russian occupiers from Ukrainian lands”.

The ceasefire, decreed by Moscow from Friday noon, ended at midnight Saturday, Ukraine accusing the Russian army of not having respected it, and Russia in return accusing the Ukrainians of preventing the app by forcing it to fight back. kyiv immediately rejected the Kremlin’s announcement, still described as “fake” on Saturday by Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaïlo Podoliak, saying it was a ruse to gain time. Washington, Paris, London, Berlin and the EU have also denounced Moscow’s “hypocrisy”.

Journalists present in Chassiv Iar, in the east of Ukraine, have in fact observed sustained bombardments throughout the morning. In Bakhmout, the epicenter of the fighting located further north, artillery fire was heard from both sides of the front, in the hours following the establishment of the unilateral ceasefire by Russia.

According to The Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office

According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office, two people were killed and 13 injured in Bakhmut on Friday, in a city largely destroyed by fighting and where both sides face heavy losses. According to Ukrainian authorities, Russian troops also shelled the Kherson region (south) on Friday, killing a rescue worker and injuring seven other people.

In the region of Zaporijjia (south-east), according to the local administration, a UN mission distributing humanitarian aid in Orikhiv was “caught under fire” from the enemy. The two countries, at war since February 2022, celebrated the Orthodox Christmas holiday on Saturday, the majority faith in Russia and Ukraine. January 7 of the civil calendar (Gregorian) corresponds to December 25 of the old Julian calendar that the Orthodox Church continues to follow, out of step with the Catholics since the 16th century.

This article is originally published on i24news.tv