After Russia, the Ukrainian troops are also making it clear that arms will not stand still over Christmas and the New Year. Deputy Chief of Staff Hromov makes it clear that there will only be a ceasefire when there are no more Russian occupiers on Ukrainian soil.
The Ukrainian military leadership has ruled out a ceasefire between the New Year and Orthodox Christmas. “I believe that there will only be a complete ceasefire from our side when there is no longer an occupier on our soil,” General Oleksiy Hromov said at a press conference in Kyiv. The Kremlin had previously announced that no ceasefire was planned over the upcoming public holidays in early January.
The situation at the front has “not changed significantly” at the moment, said Hromow. In the Luhansk region, however, Ukrainian troops advanced about a kilometer and a half to the small town of Kreminna. In the south of the country, Russian troops shelled the city of Cherson, which was liberated by the Ukrainian army in November. According to Ukrainian authorities, two people were killed and two injured. As a result of the shelling, the city was completely without electricity.
Meanwhile, in eastern Ukraine, the Russian occupiers reported heavy shelling of the city of Donetsk, which they controlled, with rocket launchers, among other things. According to them, at least one person was killed and nine others injured. “40 rockets were fired at civilians,” said Moscow-appointed Mayor Alexei Kulemsin. He published pictures on online networks that are said to show buildings and cars destroyed by the attack. According to Russian officials, Ukraine has repeatedly attacked Donetsk city center in recent weeks. At the beginning of December, six civilians were killed.
The city of Donetsk is located in the region of the same name, which has been partially controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014. In September, Moscow announced that it had annexed four Ukrainian regions, including the Donetsk region. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Despite military setbacks, Moscow still controls a good 18 percent of Ukraine’s territory, including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.
