This Friday, Russia and Ukraine They accused each other of not respecting the Ceasefire. The bombardments continued this Friday on both sides of the front in Bakhmut, the epicenter of the fighting in eastern Ukraine, and in other locations in the country, despite the unilateral ceasefire decreed by Russia.
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On the one hand, the Russian army says that its counterpart carried out several attacks in the Lugansk region. Meanwhile, kyiv says its troops were shelled in Kramatorsk and in Bakhmut. What is the scenario and what does each of the sides say?
The occupiers attacked the city with rockets on two occasions
The Ministry of Defense of Russia declared today that its troops are limited only to respond to Ukrainian attacks after the entry into force of the 36-hour unilateral ceasefire ordered by the Russian president, Vladimir Putinon the occasion of Orthodox Christmas, which is celebrated on January 7.
AFP journalists heard artillery fire from both sides of the front lines in Bakhmut, a city with streets largely destroyed and deserted, after the theoretical start of a ceasefire.
Pavlo Diatchenko, a Bakhmut police officer, called the truce a Russian “provocation.” Civilians “are being bombed day and night and almost every day there are deaths,” he said.
The Russian army assured, however, that it would respect its truce and accused the Ukrainian troops of “continuing to bombard Russian cities and positions.”
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“Despite the fact that since 12:00 Moscow time (09.00 GMT) the grouping of Russian troops observes the ceasefirethe kyiv regime continued to attack populations and Russian troop positions with artillery,” said the spokesman for that portfolio, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, quoted by the official TASS agency.
For his part, Russian forces attacked the city of Kramatorsk on Fridayin eastern Ukraine, said the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration.
“The occupiers attacked the city with rockets twice,” Kirilo Timoshenko said on social media, adding that a residential building had been hit but there were no casualties.
Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of attacks
The deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Kirilo Timoshenko, reported two Russian bombardments in Kramatorsk and another in Kurakhove, in the East. He also reported a Russian bombardment in Kherson (south).
In the Lugansk region (east), local authorities reported 14 artillery shots and noted that civilians stayed “all day in their basements.”
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For their part, the pro-Russian separatist authorities in eastern Ukraine reported several shelling attacks on their Donetsk stronghold before the ceasefire decreed by Russian President Vladimir Putin came into force.
Following the call of the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill, and the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Putin ordered a “ceasefire along the entire line of contact between the sides in Ukraine” from January 6 to January 7.
A truce that ended before it began
This was to be the first major truce in the Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
Ukraine, however, greeted the announcement with skepticism. The president, Volodimir Zelenski, estimated that it was an “excuse to stop the advance” of the kyiv troops in Donbas, in the east, and bring “equipment, ammunition and bring men closer to our positions.”
Putin had asked Ukrainian troops to respect the truce to allow the Orthodox, the majority faith in both Ukraine and Russia, “to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on the day of the Nativity of Christ.” kyiv’s allies also greeted the announcement coldly.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, estimated that Putin is “looking for oxygen.” “He was ready to bomb hospitals, day care centers and churches” on December 25 and New Year’s Day, he recalled during a White House speech.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the ceasefire “will do nothing to advance the prospects for peace” and German diplomats said the truce would bring “neither freedom nor security” to Ukraine.
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France, for its part, denounced a “Russia’s crude attempt to hide its responsibility” while the abuses and bombardments against Ukraine continue. And the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, called the ceasefire “hypocritical” and “not very credible”. “The response that comes to all of us is skepticism in the face of such hypocrisy,” he said during a visit to Fez, Morocco.
Russia opens the door to negotiation, but at what cost?
During his telephone conversation with Erdogan, Putin said that Russia was ready to enter into a “serious dialogue” with Ukraine, provided that Ukraine complied with Russian demands and accepted the “new territorial realities” resulting from the invasion of the country.
Moscow claimed in September the annexation of four occupied regions at least partially by its military in Ukraine, despite multiple Russian military setbacks on the ground, just as it did with Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in March 2014.
Zelensky insists on the total withdrawal of Russian forces from his country, including Crimea, before entering into any dialogue with Moscow. Otherwise, he promises to take back the occupied territories by force.
Putin accused the West of “supplying the kyiv regime with weapons and military equipment and providing it with information.”
The United States and Germany promised kyiv on Thursday provide you with infantry fighting vehicles Bradley and Marder. France announced that it would supply AMX-10 RC light tanks. Berlin also pledged to send a Patriot air defense battery, following in Washington’s footsteps.
AFP
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