Ends self-proclaimed ceasefire
\n Moscow
\nRussia\u2019s overnight bombing of regions in eastern Ukraine killed at least one, local officials said on Sunday, after Moscow ended a self-declared Christmas ceasefire and vowed to push on with combat until it reaches a victory over its neighbour.
\nPresident Vladimir Putin ordered on Friday a 36-hour ceasefire along the line of contact to observe Russia and Ukraine\u2019s Orthodox Christmas, which fell on Saturday. Ukraine had rejected the truce, and there was shelling along the frontline.
\nA 50-year-old man died in the northeastern region of Kharkiv as a result of Russia\u2019s shelling, Oleh Sinehubov, the governor of the region said on the Telegram messaging app. The news came minutes after midnight in Moscow.
\nMost Ukrainian Orthodox Christians have traditionally celebrated Christmas on Jan. 7, as have Orthodox Christians in Russia. But this year, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the country\u2019s largest, allowed also for a Dec. 25 celebration. Still, many observed the holiday on Saturday, flocking into churches and cathedrals.
\nThe Kremlin said that Moscow will press ahead with what it calls a \u201cspecial military operation\u201d in Ukraine and which Kyiv and its Western allies call an unprovoked aggression to grab land.
\n\u201cThe tasks set by the president (Putin) for the special military operation will still be fulfilled,\u201d the Russian state TASS agency quoted Putin\u2019s first deputy chief of staff, Sergei Kiriyenko, as saying.
\n\u201cAnd there definitely will be a victory.\u201d
\nThere is no end in sight to the war, now in its 11th month, which has killed thousands, displaced millions and turned Ukrainian cities into rubble.
\nUkrainian officials also reported blasts in regions that make up the broader Donbas region \u2014 the war\u2019s frontline where fighting has been raging for months.
\nPavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region in Ukraine, said that there were nine missile strikes on the region overnight, including seven on the battered city of Kramatorsk. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties.
\nBlasts were also heard in the city of Zaporizhzhia, the administrative centre of the Zaporizhzhia region, a local official said, without giving any immediate report on damage or casualties.
\nUkraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that Russia is planning a major new offensive. The Pentagon said on Friday that Putin\u2019s aim of seizing Ukrainian territory has not changed, even if his military continues to suffer blows.
\nThere\u2019s been growing concerns that Belarus \u2014 a staunch backer of Moscow \u2014 could be used as a staging post to attack Ukraine from the north after increasing military activity in the country and fresh transfer of Russian troops there.
\nUnofficial Telegram channels monitoring military activity in Belarus reported late on Saturday that some 1,400-1,600 Russian troops arrived from Russia into the northeastern city of Vitebsk in Belarus over the past two days.
\nReuters was not able to independently verify the information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ends self-proclaimed ceasefire Moscow Russia\u2019s overnight bombing of regions in eastern Ukraine killed at least one, local officials said on Sunday, after Moscow ended a self-declared Christmas ceasefire and vowed to push on with combat until it reaches a victory over its neighbour. President Vladimir Putin ordered on Friday a 36-hour ceasefire along the line […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306302,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-306284","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n