Live blog: Bakhmut is ‘holding on’ despite Russian attacks - Zelenskyy

 

Fierce battles are under way for the control of Bakhmut and the nearby town of Soledar in the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine, as fighting between the two European neighbours enters its 319th day.

Ukrainian forces are holding on their position in the town of Bakhmut in the eastern Donbass region, President Zelenskyy says. (AFP Archive) 

 

Monday, January 9, 2023

Ukraine is strengthening its forces in the eastern Donbas region and repelling constant attacks on Bakhmut and other towns there by Russian mercenary group Wagner, Ukrainian authorities said.

Reinforcements had been sent to Soledar, a small town near Bakhmut where the situation was particularly difficult, they said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in nightly video remarks on Sunday that Bakhmut and Soledar were holding on despite widespread destruction after months of attacks.

"Our soldiers are repelling constant Russian attempts to advance," he said.

In Soledar "things are very difficult".

 

Pope condemn Ukraine-Russia war

Pope Francis has said wars such as that in Ukraine where civilian areas are subjected to what he called indiscriminate destruction are "a crime against God and humanity".

Francis made his remarks in his yearly speech to diplomats accredited to the Vatican, an overview of the world situation which has come to be known informally as his "state of the world" address. 

Russian strike kills woman

A 60-year-old woman was killed and several other people were wounded in a Russian missile strike on a market in the village of Shevchenkove in eastern Ukraine, the regional governor said.

Footage posted by public broadcaster Suspilne on the Telegram messaging app showed rescue workers sifting through large piles of rubble, burning wreckage and a large crater in what it said was Shevchenkove, southeast of the regional capital Kharkiv.

"According to confirmed information, unfortunately a 60-year-old woman died," Oleh Synehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, wrote on Telegram. "All other victims were hospitalised. Doctors are helping them. Rescuer workers continue to clear the debris."

Russia backs banning of maps disputing official 'territorial integrity'

Russia's government has extended support to a legislative amendment that would classify maps that dispute the country's official "territorial integrity" as punishable extremist materials, the state-owned TASS news agency reported. 

The amendment to Russia's anti-extremism legislation stipulates that "cartographic and other documents and images that dispute the territorial integrity of Russia" will be classified as extremist materials, the agency reported. 

It is certain Kiev will reclaim all its lands: Ukrainian PM

The Ukrainian prime minister has said it is certain that Ukraine will reclaim all of its lands from Russia.

"We don't know when the war will end, but it's certain that we will reclaim all of our land," said Denys Shmyhal in an interview with the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

"We're doing everything we can to quickly end the war. For this, the international community must strictly keep sanctions on Russia and strengthen them," he added.

 Source: TRTWorld and agencies 

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(With input from news agency language)

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