Kyiv denies Russian claim to have killed 600 soldiers
Ukraine’s military has dismissed as false Russia’s claim that it carried out a “retaliatory” rocket attack on Sunday that killed 600 Ukrainian soldiers housed in Kramatorsk in the disputed Donetsk region.
Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraine’s forces in the east, told The Associated Press that the missiles damaged civilian infrastructure but “the Ukrainian armed forces were not affected.”
Earlier, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Russian intelligence had “detected and reliably confirmed” through several independent channels the location of some temporary military bases. Ukrainian military in Kramatorsk.
“As a result of a massive rocket strike on these temporary bases of Ukrainian units, more than 600 Ukrainian servicemen were killed,” he said.
The ministry said the attack was in retaliation for a Ukrainian strike a week ago on buildings housing Russian soldiers in Makiivka, about 60 miles south of Kramatorsk. Strike killed 89 Russian servicemen, Kremlin said; Ukrainian authorities estimated the death toll to be much higher.
Sunday’s missile strike came hours after the end of a partially observed 36-hour unilateral ceasefire that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered to mark the Russian Orthodox Christmas.
UKRAINE REJECTS PUTIN’S CEASEFIRE ORDER:US to send Bradley vehicles to Ukraine
Other developments:
►50 Ukrainian fighters have returned home in a prisoner exchange with Russia, Ukrainian authorities said. Thirty-three were officers, 17 were privates and sergeants. Russia said 50 of its soldiers had been released.
►Ukrainian tennis player Ekaterina Volodko defeated Russian Valeria Savinykh in the final of a tennis tournament in Thailand.
►Russia and Belarus will conduct joint air force tactical exercises from January 16 to February 1, Belarusian officials have announced. Belarus has been Russia’s closest ally since invading Ukraine more than 10 months ago.
UKRAINE WELCOMES US MILITARY ASSISTANCEas “very powerful”; The Christmas ceasefire should falter
Bosnian Serbs award Putin Medal of Honor
The Bosnian Serb separatist leader on Sunday awarded Russian President Vladimir Putin the highest Medal of Honor for his “patriotic concern and love” for the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia.
“Putin is responsible for developing and strengthening cooperation and political and friendly relations between the RS (Republika Srpska) and Russia,” Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik said at the award ceremony in the Bosnian Serb stronghold of Banja Luka.
Dodik, who visited Putin in September in Moscow, has maintained close ties with the Russian president despite Russia’s war in Ukraine. The medal will be presented to Putin when the two meet next, Russian Ambassador Igor Kalbukhov said.
Moscow has often been accused by the West of seeking to destabilize Bosnia and the rest of the Balkans through its proxies in Serbia and Bosnia. Dodik has openly advocated wresting half of Serb-controlled Bosnia from a Bosnian-Croat federation into neighboring Serbia.
Russia is preparing for a Ukrainian offensive in the spring, according to the British
Russia has reinforced its fortifications in Zaporizhzhia, fearing that a major Ukrainian breakthrough in the southeastern region could seriously challenge the viability of the Russian “land bridge” between Russia and Crimea, the British Ministry of Health said. Defense. The ministry, in its latest war assessment, also says Russians fear Ukraine’s success in the Lugansk region will further undermine the Kremlin’s stated war goal of “liberating” Donbass.
“Deciding which of these threats to prioritize is probably one of the central dilemmas for the Russian operational planner,” the assessment said.
Contributor: The Associated Press
USA Today
