On Sunday, a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk missed its targets, and there were no visible traces of casualties, despite Moscow’s claims that 600 Ukrainian soldiers were killed.
A team from Reuters visited two college dormitories that Moscow claimed briefly housed Ukrainian personnel in retaliation for an attack on New Year’s Day that killed dozens of Russian soldiers and sparked outrage in Russia.
Russian Missile Attack
However, neither of the dormitories in the eastern city of Kramatorsk appears to have been directly struck or severely damaged. There were no visible indications that soldiers had inhabited the area, as well as no remains or evidence of blood.
Serhiy Cherevatyi, a Ukrainian military representative for the eastern zone, characterized the claim of multiple casualties as an effort by the Russian defense ministry to demonstrate that it had retaliated with force against Ukraine’s recent attacks on Russian soldiers.
As the anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, the Russian military is under internal pressure to achieve battlefield victories. After setbacks including the loss of seized land and high rates of death and wounded, hawkish voices have called for an intensification of the war effort.
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President Vladimir Putin Calls For Ceasefire
In the meantime, President Putin urged both sides to observe a temporary cease-fire beginning at noon on Friday to allow for Orthodox Christmas services.
The Russian Ministry of Defense asserts that its soldiers adhered to the ceasefire along the entire contact line, but reports of artillery shelling and fighting indicate that the temporary ceasefire has had little effect.
This morning, the Russian president was photographed attending a Christmas ceremony at an Orthodox church in the Kremlin. It was the first time in years that he had celebrated Christmas in Moscow.
After the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which uses the Julian calendar, requested a 36-hour ceasefire to commemorate Christmas, the Russian president ordered one to begin at midday on Friday. Ukraine denounced the Russian truce as a trivial ploy to regroup their soldiers.
Throughout the Christmas season, shelling of eastern Ukraine positions and allegations of strikes on civilian targets have continued. The British Ministry of Defense stated in its daily report on the war in Ukraine that combat has continued at a normal pace.
