🔄 Click here for the latest updates.
4 posts
1 min ago
At least 2 dead and 13 wounded in the bombing of Bakhmut during the Russian ceasefire
By Niamh Kennedy, Denis Lapin
Plumes of smoke rise from a Russian attack on the frontline town of Bakhmut on Saturday.
(Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters)
At least two people were killed and 13 wounded by shelling of the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut on Saturday during a Russian-proposed ceasefire, according to a regional prosecutor.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor's Office said it had launched a pre-trial investigation into Friday's events.
"According to the investigation, on January 6, 2023, the occupation forces of the Russian Federation carried out regular artillery shelling in the city of Bakhmut and the Bakhmut district," the prosecutor said.
A CNN team on the ground in Bakhmut on Friday observed incoming and outgoing artillery fire around Bakhmut since the Russian ceasefire began at 11 a.m. (4 a.m. ET) that day.
The ceasefire proposed by Vladimir Putin and rejected by the Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky was supposed to last 36 hours.
“As a result of powerful mortar attacks on residential areas, a 66-year-old man and a 61-year-old woman were killed.
Thirteen more people suffered injuries from mine explosions and shrapnel wounds," the prosecutor added in the statement.
Private homes, apartment buildings and other objects were damaged and destroyed by shelling on Friday, according to the prosecutor.
Ukraine's military maintained that Russia attacked Ukrainian positions in the east and south of the country until 6 a.m. Kyiv time on Saturday, despite a ceasefire declared unilaterally by Moscow.
9 mins ago
What is Orthodox Christmas and why is everyone talking about it this year?
For much of the Western world, Christmas is celebrated on December 25, according to the Gregorian calendar.
However, Orthodox Christians follow the Julian calendar and celebrate the holiday on January 7.
This year, Orthodox Christmas, and longstanding rifts between the Russian Orthodox Church and other Orthodox groups, is in the spotlight over Russian President Vladimir Putin's call for a 36-hour temporary ceasefire in Ukraine. to allow Orthodox followers to attend Christmas services.
Putin's proposal was quickly dismissed as "hypocrisy" and "propaganda" by the Ukrainian authorities, and shelling has continued on both sides.
It is estimated that there are between 200 and 300 million Orthodox Christians in the world.
Majority Orthodox countries include Russia, Ukraine and Greece, whose churches are part of the Eastern Orthodox branch, which is also followed by the majority of Christians in the Middle East.
There are also significant Orthodox communities in Egypt and Ethiopia, most of which belong to the smaller Eastern Orthodox branch.
Before Russia's war on Ukraine, Kyiv had been pushing to establish its own Orthodox Church independent of Moscow, and the schism only grew after Putin's invasion last year.
In October, a branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church announced that it would allow its churches to celebrate Christmas on December 25, instead of January 7.
Since Orthodox Christmas falls on a Saturday, here are the answers to some of the key questions.
READ MORE
16 mins ago
US announces shipment of nearly $3 billion in additional military aid to Ukraine
Soldiers operate an M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle during a live-fire exercise with Syrian Democratic Forces and coalition partners in Syria on March 25.
(US Army/Cover Images/AP)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Friday a new shipment of military aid to Ukraine worth US$2.85 billion, which will include "Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, artillery systems, armored personnel carriers, surface-to-air missiles, air, ammunition and other items to support Ukraine in its courageous defense of its people, its sovereignty and its territorial integrity".
The top US diplomat said the administration would work with Congress "to provide an additional $907 million of Foreign Military Financing under the Additional Supplemental Appropriations Act for Ukraine, 2022."
"The funds will support Ukraine and countries impacted by Russia's war in Ukraine," Blinken said in a statement.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky used his Twitter account to welcome "the all-time American defense aid package."
"Thank you President Biden for the all-new weaponry, including Bradley vehicles, anti-aircraft missiles. It will strengthen the Ukrainian Army on the battlefield. Awesome Christmas present for Ukraine! Together with the American people we are moving closer to a common victory," he wrote.
46 mins ago
US imposes sanctions on officials linked to Iranian companies of drones used by Russia
In this image obtained on May 28, drones are seen at an underground location in an undisclosed location in Iran.
(Iranian Army/WANA/Reuters)
The US Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on officials linked to an Iranian defense manufacturer that designs and produces unmanned aerial vehicles that have been used in the Ukraine war, as well as the head of "the key organization responsible for oversee Iran's ballistic missile programs".
The new US sanctions affect "six executives and members of the board of directors of Qods Aviation Industries, designated by the United States", and the head of the Organization of Aerospace Industries of Iran, according to a Treasury statement.
"We will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to deny Putin the weapons he is using to wage his barbaric and unprovoked war against Ukraine," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.
"The Kremlin's reliance on suppliers of last resort like Iran shows its despair at the courageous Ukrainian resistance and the success of our global coalition in disrupting Russian military supply chains and denying them the supplies they need to replace weapons lost in the field. battle," Yellen said.
"The United States will move swiftly against individuals and entities that support Iran's ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle programs and will stand resolutely in support of the people of Ukraine."
CNN has reported how, according to an assessment by Ukrainian intelligence services, parts made by more than a dozen American and Western companies were found inside a single Iranian Shahed-136 drone shot down in Ukraine last fall.
In December, the White House created a task force to investigate how American and Western-made technology -- from smaller pieces of equipment like semiconductors and GPS modules to larger parts like motors -- has ended up in Iranian drones.
CNN's Natasha Bertrand contributed to this report.
war in ukraine