Russia probably wants to blow up the dam - to slow down the Ukrainian advance

Created: 2023-01-08 06:57

By: Karolin Schäfer, Nadja Austel, Nail Akkoyun, Andreas Apetz

The war in Ukraine is turning the country into the world's largest minefield.

Meanwhile, the "ceasefire" is now officially over.

The news ticker.

• Civilian casualties despite "Christmas rest":

  Injured and dead in Bachmut.

• Dam blasting:

  Russia is said to be planning a blast near the town of Swatowe.

• Editor's note: 

  Read the latest developments from the Ukraine conflict in our new ticker.

  The information on the Ukraine war processed here comes partly from the warring parties in Russia and Ukraine.

  They can therefore not be independently checked in part.

Update from Sunday, January 7, 6:40

a.m.: According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine has created a 250,000 square kilometer minefield in his country.

"It is currently the largest minefield in the world," Schmyhal said in an interview with South Korea's Yonhap news agency published on Saturday.

According to Schmyhal, the mined area corresponds to more than 40 percent of the entire land area of ​​Ukraine.

"Not only does this make it difficult for people to travel, but it also causes major disruption to agriculture, which is one of our main industries," the prime minister said.

Pictures of the Ukraine war: great horror and small moments of happiness

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Meanwhile, the Ukrainian National Resistance Center reports that Russia may blow up the Svatove dam in the Luhansk region to slow Ukrainian advances.

Russian forces may use the possible blowing up of the dam as a "pretext for deporting the local population" and try to blame Ukraine for blowing up the dam, the National Resistance Center wrote.

The Ukrainian army has recaptured many areas in eastern Ukraine.

© Ashley Chan/dpa

Battles in Ukraine: Zelenskyj speaks of "false statements from Moscow"

+++ 10:20 p.m .:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj declares the ceasefire declared by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin over the Orthodox Christmas celebrations to have failed: “The world could once again see how wrong statements from Moscow are at every level,” said the 44-year-old in his video message from this Saturday evening - shortly before the ceasefire promised by Putin should end.

The Russians had spoken of an alleged armistice.

"But the reality is that Russian shells hit Bakhmut and other Ukrainian positions again," Zelenskyy said.

This reconfirmed that only the "expulsion of the Russian occupiers from Ukrainian lands" and the "elimination of all possibilities for Russia to exert pressure on Ukraine and all of Europe" would mean a ceasefire, security and peace.

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News in the Ukraine war: Explosion in occupied Luhansk

+++ 9:00 p.m .:

An explosion is said to have occurred on the main gas pipeline in the city of Lutuhyne in the occupied part of the Luhansk region.

This is reported by the Russian news

, which is close to the Kremlin , citing the gas operator “Luhanskgaz”.

The explosion caused a fire, which, however, could already be extinguished.

According to the Russian occupiers, around 13,000 customers are without gas supplies as a result of the explosion.

The authorities did not provide any information about the cause of the explosion.

News in the Ukraine war: attacks on infrastructure - only Russian TV in Melitopol

+++ 8:00 p.m .:

In the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol and in a settlement in Zaporizhia Oblast, all Ukrainian television channels stopped broadcasting.

Only Russian television can now be received, according to the Ukrainian general staff in its evening situation report.

At the front in Cherson, civilian infrastructure facilities were damaged by mortar and artillery fire as a result of the Russian attacks during the “Christmas break”.

News in the Ukraine war: Russian attacks on infrastructure despite "Christmas rest"

+++ 6.30 p.m .:

Over the past day, Russian troops have carried out an air raid and seven attacks with multiple missile systems, as reported by the Ukrainian General Staff.

The threat of air and missile strikes by Russian forces on critical infrastructure remains throughout Ukraine.

Russian troops also fired on Ukrainian military positions with tanks, mortars and barrel artillery, "despite the so-called armistice".

Russian offensive operations are mainly concentrated on the Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Lyman fronts, the General Staff said.

In the case of Novopavlivka, Zaporizhia and Cherson, on the other hand, Russian troops carried out active defensive measures in the previously occupied areas.

News in the Ukraine war: Attacks despite "Christmas rest" - civilians killed

+++ 5.45 p.m .:

According to an assessment by British secret services, the fighting in the Ukraine war continued at the previous level during the orthodox Christmas season.

International observers had doubted in advance that the Russian armed forces would stop firing.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office announced that two civilians were killed and 13 others injured by Russian shelling in Bakhmut in the Donetsk region yesterday, Friday.

News in the Ukraine war: Attacks despite Russia's "Christmas rest"

+++ 5:00 p.m .:

Despite the unilateral ceasefire ordered by Vladimir Putin, Russia’s army said it responded to Ukrainian attacks during the Orthodox Christmas festival.

"All positions of the Ukrainian army from which the shelling was fired were crushed by Russian forces returning fire," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.

There were combat operations in the Donetsk, Cherson and Zaporizhia regions.

Regardless, Konashenkov claimed Russia is adhering to the self-imposed 36-hour ceasefire, which was due to officially end on Saturday night.

News on the Ukraine war: Eastern Ukraine under heavy fire

+++ 3.15 p.m .:

Even the “Christmas rest” announced by President Vladimir Putin does not ensure a ceasefire in the Ukraine war.

The mutual shelling continues, particularly in the hard-fought east of the country.

Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reports that Russian troops have continued to target civilians in the north-east of the region over the past day.

The aim was liberated areas and areas near the Russian border.

In the southeast, Russian troops shelled 16 settlements in Zaporizhia Oblast, damaging numerous homes and infrastructure, according to the regional military administration.

Kherson Oblast has come under fire 39 times in the past few days.

In the past 24 hours - since the beginning of the "Christmas period" - at least three people have been killed and 14 people injured in heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine.

This was reported by the news portal

reference to the Ukrainian governor Yaroslav Yanushevych.

News about the Ukraine war: Russia is said to be planning to blow up a dam

+++ 1:00 p.m .:

Russia is said to be planning to blow up the dam of a reservoir near the city of Svatove in the Luhansk region.

This is the conclusion of the Ukrainian National Resistance Center after observing that a Russian engineering and engineering unit was called to the town of Svatove.

“The enemy plans in this way to slow down the advance of Ukrainian forces in this sector of the front.

At the same time, the occupiers are planning to accuse Ukraine of blowing up the dam,” the Ukrainian news portal

quoted the National Center of Resistance as saying.

+++ 10.40 a.m .:

Russian attackers fired on the Cherson region 39 times last day.

One person was killed and seven others were injured.

This was reported by the news portal

with reference to Yaroslav Yanushevich, head of the military administration of the Kherson region.

According to Yanushevych, artillery, multiple rocket launchers, mortars and tanks also shelled peaceful settlements.

News on the Ukraine war: mobilization in Belarus progressed – Lukashenko just “press the button”

Update from Saturday, January 7th, 7.30 a.m .:

The Belarusian opposition is increasingly concerned about a possible mobilization in their country to support Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

The opposition politician Pawel Latuschka, who lives in exile in Warsaw, told the

on Saturday that the preparations for this are well advanced.

The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko only needs to press the button on orders from the Kremlin to start mobilizing.

Former Belarusian culture minister Latushka is a member of opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya's cabinet in exile.

Update from Friday, January 6th:

After Russia had announced that it would be taking a ceasefire in the Ukraine war due to the Orthodox Christmas celebrations, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelesnkyj reacted to Vladimir Putin's actions: "Those who continued the terror against our country and who sent their people to be slaughtered definitely do not value life and even more so do not seek peace.”

News about the Ukraine war: Russian ship on the way to "coasts of NATO countries"

+++ 15.20:

The Russian Navy's frigate “Admiral Gorshkov”, which is equipped with “Zirkon” hypersonic missiles, is currently heading into the Atlantic Ocean.

According to Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, the ship is on its way to the "coasts of the NATO countries".

This is reported by the Ukrainian Navy on Facebook.

According to the information, the deployment ceremony of the frigate was personally conducted by Vladimir Putin.

The warship is to rehearse combat missions in the waters of the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Training with the "Zirkon" hypersonic missiles is also planned during the combat mission.

News in the Ukraine war: Kyiv rejects temporary ceasefire

First report from Thursday, January 5th:

Kiev/Moscow – The Ukrainian government in Kiev has no interest in a short-term ceasefire in the Ukraine war.

This was announced by the Office of President Volodyodmyr Zelenskyy.

The call by Kirill, the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, for a ceasefire between Russian and Ukrainian troops for the Orthodox Christmas celebrations is rejected.

"It is a cynical trap and an element of propaganda," Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podoliak wrote on Twitter on Thursday (January 5).

The Russian Orthodox Church is also not an authority in global orthodoxy and only acts as a "war propagandist".

Podoliak accused the Moscow Patriarchate of calling for genocide against the Ukrainian people.

Russian Patriarch Kirill had previously called for a ceasefire on Friday (January 6th) and Saturday (January 7th) from both sides in the “internal conflict”.

According to the Orthodox Church calendar followed in Ukraine and Russia, Friday is Christmas Eve and Saturday is Christmas Day.

(nak/kas/dpa)