Ukraine denounces 76 bombings and “bloody battles” in the city of Soledar, in Donetsk, during the alleged cessation of hostilities
“Putin has no desire to end the war.” The adviser to the Ukrainian Presidency, Mikhailo Podoliak, said this on Thursday after the Kremlin chief announced a 36-hour ceasefire for Orthodox Christmas. A truce, however, that practically failed before it began. Yesterday’s day continued to be warlike, especially in Bakhmut, the epicenter of the fighting in eastern Ukraine, and in other towns in the country. But kyiv already envisaged the cessation of hostilities as a “trap”.
The Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, warned that it was a “cover” to stop the advance of his Army in Donbas and “bring equipment, ammunition and mobilized men closer to our positions.” This Saturday, his military intelligence corroborated his words. And it is that, according to the British newspaper ‘The Guardian’, Russia will order the mobilization of up to 500,000 recruits this month, in addition to the 300,000 that it summoned last October, explained Vadim Skibitski, deputy head of the espionage group, who assured that they would be part of of new offensives during the spring and summer in the east and south of the country.
However, Moscow denies that it is in the process of preparing a second wave of mobilization. Andrei Guruliov, a retired Russian colonel-general and Duma deputy, said on Wednesday that “there would be no reasons or conditions” for announcing such a move for at least the next “six months.”
“Military Weaknesses”
But the United States does not trust Russia. Although the Kremlin’s goal of seizing Ukrainian territory “has not changed,” the Pentagon warned, its troops “continue to suffer from military weaknesses, including the number of fighters they have.” Ukraine also no longer believes Putin’s words, which today, in the midst of a Christmas truce, praised the Orthodox Church for supporting his troops.
Proof of this lack of confidence are the attacks that have taken place during the ceasefire announced by Moscow. “Bloody battles” took place this Saturday in Soledar, in the Donetsk region. Mercenaries from the Wagner group claimed the previous day to be “very close” to putting the city under their control. Since early today there have been “76 bombardments by the invaders and 10 combat clashes,” reported Sergei Cherevati, spokesman for the Eastern Group of Forces. Soledar, he lamented, is almost “completely destroyed.”
Air alarms also resounded in the nearly deserted city of Bakhmut. The few inhabitants that remain in it have suffered firsthand the true meaning of Putin’s Christmas truce. “When he says there is a ceasefire, it is actually the other way around: there is no ceasefire,” lamented Vasil Liesin, a 30-year-old humanitarian volunteer. “Yesterday we were bombed a lot. The night was more or less calm. But it’s usually like this: one day there’s shelling, the next it’s calmer,” he told Reuters.
Kherson was also attacked. As detailed by the Ukrainian governor of the region, Yaroslav Yanusevich, Moscow bombed the city up to “39 times” on Friday, leaving at least one dead and seven injured. Several residential buildings and a fire station were damaged.
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