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1 min ago
Senior Ukrainian commander visits Bakhmut troops as Zelensky warns area is "one of the bloodiest places on the front line"
By Olga Voitovych
A Ukrainian soldier in his position on the Bakhmut front in Donetsk, Ukraine, on January 8, 2023. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
A senior Ukrainian military commander visited troops defending the conflict zone of Bakhmut and Soledar in eastern Ukraine.
Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi visited the troops to work on organizing the defense, the Center for Military Media of Ukraine said.
"The enemy again made a desperate attempt to storm the city of Soledar from different directions and sent the most professional Wagner units into battle," Syrskyi said.
"However, thanks to the courage of our defenders, the skillful and competent use of fire, the enemy suffered significant losses and once again withdrew, despite the enemy's propaganda statements about the alleged capture of Soledar," he added.
Zelensky on Sunday called the area around the eastern Ukrainian cities "one of the bloodiest places on the front line."
However, the Ukrainian president said on Sunday that the two cities were "resisting" and that "the situation on the front line has not changed significantly in the first week of the year."
Some background: Bakhmut has become perhaps the most contested and kinetic part of Ukraine's 800-mile front line and the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the war.
The greater Donetsk region, where Bakhmut and Soledar meet, has been in the hands of Russian-backed separatists since 2014 and is one of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims as Russian territory in violation of international law.
5 mins ago
Russia shells Kharkiv area in eastern Ukraine, regional official says
By Eve Brennan and Olly Racz
The Kharkiv region of Ukraine was hit by missiles and shelling on Monday, the head of the Kharkiv regional state administration, Oleg Sinegubov, said on Telegram.
“The enemy shelled the settlements in the Chuhuiv and Kupyansk districts with artillery, tanks and mortars,” he said of the region in eastern Ukraine.
“In Kupyansk, as a result of enemy attacks, utility buildings were damaged, a fire broke out.
In the village of Vovchansky Khutory, Chuhuiv district, a private residential building was destroyed due to shelling, ”he added.
Sinegubov went on to say that a missile strike from the S-300 air defense system hit a local market in the village of Shevchenkove, Kupyansk district.
“According to the Regional Center for Emergency Medical Care, 7 civilians were injured as a result of a missile attack on the village of Shevchenkove.
Among them is a 13-year-old girl, ”she said.
Sinegubov later added that a 60-year-old woman had also died due to the missile attack, and that all the other victims were hospitalized.
9 mins ago
Pope Francis compares the war in Ukraine to a "crime against God and against humanity"
By Niamh Kennedy, Valentina DiDonato and Delia Gallagher
Pope Francis has compared the war in Ukraine to a "crime against God and against humanity," calling once again for an end to the conflict.
Speaking during a speech before the diplomatic corps in the Vatican on Monday, the pope said that conflicts such as the war in Ukraine with its "trail of death and destruction" and "attacks on civil infrastructure" are akin to crimes "against God and humanity. ".
"Today I feel compelled to renew my call for an immediate end to this senseless conflict, the effects of which are felt in entire regions, including outside of Europe, due to its repercussions in the areas of energy and food production, above all in Africa and in the Middle East", stressed the pontiff.
He also highlighted the impact of the war in Ukraine on the "most fragile: children, the elderly, the disabled", saying that it "leaves an indelible mark on families".
12 mins ago
Shelling continued overnight in Donetsk region, officials say
By Stephanie Halasz
Shelling has continued overnight on different parts of the front line in southeastern Ukraine, the head of the Donetsk region's military administration said on Telegram.
Pavlo Kyrylenko said Russian units continued to "shell different parts of the front line overnight" in the southeastern region of Ukraine.
One person was injured in one of several shelling incidents, which took place near Vuhledar, Soledar, Chasiv Yar and the Lysychansk direction, Kyrylenko added.
The greater Donetsk region has been in the hands of Russian-backed separatists since 2014 and is one of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims as Russian territory in violation of international law.
14 mins ago
Zelensky says the area around Bakhmut and Soledar is "one of the bloodiest places on the front line."
By Mariya Knight
File photo. Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the United States Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on December 21, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
The area around the eastern Ukrainian cities of Bakhmut and Soledar is "one of the bloodiest places on the front line," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his late-night speech on Sunday.
"There is no such piece of land near these two cities, where the occupier would not have given his life for the crazy ideas of the masters of the Russian regime," Zelensky said.
Bakhmut has become perhaps the most contested and kinetic part of Ukraine's 1,300-kilometre front line and the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the war to date.
The greater Donetsk region, where Bakhmut and Soledar meet, has been in the hands of Russian-backed separatists since 2014 and is one of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims as Russian territory in violation of international law.
However, the Ukrainian president said on Sunday that the two cities were "resisting" and that "the situation at the front has not changed significantly in the first week of the year."
"Bajmut resists against all odds. Although most of the city is destroyed by Russian attacks, our warriors repel constant Russian offensive attempts there," he said.
“Soledar is holding on.
Although there is even more destruction there and it is extremely hard.
16 mins ago
Kyiv rejects Russia's claim that hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the Kramatorsk attack
By Uliana Pavlova, Olga Voitovych and Ben Wedeman
Ukrainian authorities on Sunday dismissed Moscow's claim that large numbers of Kyiv soldiers were killed in a Russian attack last week in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine.
"This is nonsense," Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, told CNN in response to the Russian claim.
A CNN team on the ground has seen no indication of mass casualties in the area.
There is no unusual activity in and around Kramatorsk, including in the vicinity of the city's morgue, the team reported.
A Reuters reporter in Kramtorsk also reported that there are no signs of a significant Russian attack on two university dormitories that Russia says had housed hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers.
"There were no obvious signs that the soldiers had been living there and no signs of bodies or traces of blood," the Reuters report said.
The mayor of Kramatorsk said there were no casualties, according to Reuters.
Earlier, Russia claimed that more than 600 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a Russian attack on Kramatorsk carried out in "retaliation" for the Ukrainian attack on Russian-occupied Makiivka last week, according to a Russian Defense Ministry statement.
