NU.nl provides you with an ongoing overview of the situation in Ukraine. With this time: both Russian and Ukrainian soldiers in Ukraine took up arms on Friday. This happened despite a proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who wanted a temporary ceasefire. According to him, it had to come because of the Orthodox Christmas in both countries.
Shots were fired by both countries in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk on Friday. Artillery fire was heard from both sides of the front line in Bakhmut, a town in the region. The largely destroyed Bakhmut has been the epicenter of fighting in eastern Ukraine for months.
On Thursday, the Kremlin proposed a truce from 12 noon to midnight on January 6 for the night between January 7 and 8. President Putin would have ordered the defense minister not to carry out attacks during the Orthodox Christmas, it was already known on Thursday. It also turned out that Ukraine did not care about the ceasefire. The country called the proposal a “banal trick”. US President Biden also rejected the proposal.
Russian Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas Eve on January 6 and Christmas Day the following day. Holidays for Orthodox Christians are different because their church uses the Julian calendar. Orthodox Christians also live in Ukraine. Last year, the Ukrainian branch split from the Russian Orthodox Church because of the war. Many Ukrainians now celebrated Christmas on December 25 and 26.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a ceasefire went into effect along the entire front at 10 a.m. (Dutch time) on Friday, according to Putin’s order. But that turned out not to be the case. In addition to the fighting in Bakhmut, Ukraine has also reported an attack on the city of Kramatorsk. The intensity of the fighting at the front on Friday was less than the previous days, the news agency said AFP.
Germany delivers 40 Marder combat vehicles to Ukraine
Germany will deliver 40 armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine in the first three months of this year for the fight against Russia. This was announced by the country’s government on Friday.
Ukrainian soldiers are trained in Germany to control the so-called Marders. It is expected to take eight weeks.
On Thursday, it was announced that Germany and the United States are supplying heavy weapons to Ukraine. That country has received military equipment from many countries, including the Netherlands, since Russia invaded.
The Patriot air defense system will also be sent to Ukraine by the end of March, a German government spokesman said. Ukraine previously received the IRIS-T anti-aircraft system from Germany.
Wil je meldingen ontvangen over nieuwe overzichten over de oorlog in Oekraïne?
1:50New sanctions against Iran over drone deliveries to Russia
The US is imposing new sanctions on seven people in Iran for supplying attack drones to Russia, it also appeared on Friday. According to the Americans, the drones are used for attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine.
The assets that the seven individuals have in the United States will be frozen. In addition, the Americans are no longer allowed to trade with them. Six of them are board members of an aviation company that was to be responsible for the design and production of drones. The company itself was already sanctioned by the United States in 2013. The sanctions also target the director of an organization that oversees Iran’s ballistic missile program.
The United States has also previously imposed sanctions on companies and individuals accused of involvement in the Iranian drones that Russia uses in Ukraine. Iran acknowledged supplying drones to Russia last year, but said it was a small number and that the delivery was before the start of the Russian invasion on February 24.
2:03