2023-01-09T09:35:37Z
Russia acknowledged on Monday (January 2) that scores of its troops were killed in one of the Ukraine war’s deadliest strikes, drawing demands from nationalist bloggers for commanders to be punished for housing soldiers alongside an ammunition dump. Sarah Charlton reports.
Ukraine is strengthening its forces in the eastern Donbas region and repelling constant attacks on Bakhmut and other towns there by Russian mercenary group Wagner, Ukrainian authorities said on Monday.
FIGHTING:
Ukrainian forces are repelling constant attacks on the town of Bakhmut in the eastern Donbas region and holding their positions in nearby Soledar in very difficult conditions, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday.
* A Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk missed its targets and there were no obvious signs of casualties, a Reuters reporter said on Sunday. Moscow had claimed the strike killed 600 Ukrainian soldiers in retaliation for a Ukrainian strike that killed scores of Russians on New Year’s Eve.
* A 60-year-old woman was killed and several other people were wounded in a Russian missile strikeon a market in the village of Shevchenkove in eastern Ukraine on Monday, the regional governor said.
* Russia and Ukraine each returned 50 captured soldiers in the latest prisoner swap in the war. Ukraine said the returnees included fighters from Mariupol and Chernobyl. Freed Ukrainian’s sang the national anthem on their release.
* Russia and Belarus will hold joint aviation drills of the air divisions that are part of the two countries’ regional grouping of troops. The drills will last from Jan. 16 to Feb. 1.
* Justice ministers from around the world will gather in London in March to boost international support for the International Criminal Court in its investigations of alleged war crimes in Ukraine, the British government said.
Related Galleries:
Vlad from the 80th Separate Air Assault Brigade drives an APC on the front line at Orthodox Christmas, during a ceasefire announced by Russia over the Orthodox Christmas period, from the frontline region of Kreminna, Ukraine, January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
Ukrainian servicemen ride an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in the village of Torske, Donetsk region, Ukraine December 30, 2022. REUTERS/Yevhen Titov
A woman stands at the site of a missile strike that occurred during the night, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, January 8, 2023. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
People take part in a ceremony in memory of Russian soldiers killed in the course of Russia-Ukraine military conflict, the day after Russia’s Defence Ministry stated that 63 Russian servicemen were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on their temporary accommodation in Makiivka (Makeyevka) in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine, in Glory Square in Samara, Russia, January 3, 2023. REUTERS/Albert Dzen
People take part in a ceremony in memory of Russian soldiers killed in the course of Russia-Ukraine military conflict, the day after Russia’s Defence Ministry stated that 63 Russian servicemen were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on their temporary accommodation in Makiivka (Makeyevka) in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine, in Glory Square in Samara, Russia, January 3, 2023. REUTERS/Albert Dzen
