Ukraine Daily Summary - Friday, January 6

Covered by dead bodies of his relatives, 4-year-old boy survives Russian attack -- Putin is trying to 'find some oxygen’ with truce proposal -- Putin's Christmas ceasefire announcement likely campaign to damage Ukraine's reputation -- US believes Putin ally Prigozhin wants control of salt, gypsum mines in Bakhmut -- and more

Ukraine Daily

Friday, January 6

Russia’s war against Ukraine

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People carry their belongings from boat after the bridge was bombed by Russia on Jan. 05, 2023 in Staryi Saltiv, Ukraine. Most of Ukraine continues to experience a daily barrage of both missiles and drones from Russia as the nation approaches the one year anniversary of the start of the war. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Ukraine’s officials dismiss Putin’s said Orthodox Christmas ceasefire call. President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s words about an Orthodox Christmas ceasefire. “Those who continued the terror against our country and sent their people to be slaughtered definitely do not value life and even more so do not seek peace,” Zelensky said.

Biden: Putin is trying to ’find some oxygen’ with truce proposal. U.S. President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin seeks to find breathing room and possibly regroup by offering Ukraine a ceasefire. “He was ready to bomb hospitals and nurseries, and churches on the 25th (of December) and New Year’s. I mean, I think he is trying to find some oxygen,” Biden told reporters.

ISW: Putin’s Christmas ceasefire announcement likely campaign to damage Ukraine’s reputation. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin “may have called for the ceasefire to frame Ukraine as unaccommodating and unwilling to take the necessary steps towards negotiations,” the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest report.

General Staff: Russian troops focus efforts on capturing Donetsk Oblast. In its regular evening update, the General Staff said that Russian forces are focusing their main effort on an attempt to capture the eastern Donetsk Oblast, conducting offensive operations toward Bakhmut and Lyman. According to the Ukrainian military, Moscow’s forces attacked Bakhmut, 12 settlements nearby, and four settlements near Lyman.

Reuters: US believes Putin ally Prigozhin wants control of salt, gypsum mines in Bakhmut. The United States believes that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s close ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is the head of Kremlin-backed mercenary Wagner Group, has invested his troops in the fight for Bakhmut because of an interest in the salt and gypsum from mines near the city, Reuters reported, citing a White House official.

Satellite images show Bakhmut before and after Russian invasion. New satellite imagery published by U.S. satellite imagery company Maxar shows before and after images of the besieged city of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.

Belarusian Defense Ministry: Russian troops continue to arrive in the country. In addition to coordinating combat activities, joint flight and tactical training would also be held to increase the combat readiness of aviation units from both countries, the ministry added.

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Russia has damaged, destroyed over 1,100 cultural sites in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Russian forces have damaged 1,189 cultural sites in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Every third site, 446, is ruined, Ukraine’s Culture Ministry said.

Ministry: Ukraine’s GDP fell by 30.4% in 2022. “This is objectively the worst result since independence (in 1991), but better than most experts predicted at the beginning of (Russia’s) full-scale invasion, when estimates ranged from 40-50% and more,” the ministry said.

Ukraine finalizes transfer of parts of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra to state ownership. The UOC-MP has faced backlash in recent months due to its ties to Russia and the discovery of Russian passports, anti-Ukrainian propaganda, and stolen icons during nationwide raids on its religious sites. Searches have also taken place at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.

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Covered by dead bodies of his relatives, 4-year-old boy survives Russian attack.

When Russian forces opened fire on the peaceful village of Oskil, Kharkiv Oblast, on March 27, Svitlana Voshchana realized her friend’s home was under attack.

Illustration: Karolina Gulshani

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As Battle of Bakhmut nears culmination, Ukraine’s artillery gasps for more ammo.

It’s the last days of December and the heat of the holiday season. But an artillery battalion with Ukraine’s 24th Mechanized Infantry just couldn’t care less. For them, it’s like Groundhog Day – just another day of war that keeps repeating over and over.

Photo: Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent

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Ukraine war latest: Putin says he wants 36-hour ceasefire, Zelensky says Russia doesn’t want real truce.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he ordered his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to implement a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine, which was quickly dismissed by Ukrainian authorities as a facade.

Photo: Getty Images

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The human cost of Russia’s war

Russian attacks across 9 Ukrainian regions kill 3, injure at least 4 over past 24 hours. Russian forces killed two people and injured one more in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported in on Jan. 5.

Governor: Russian attack on Kherson Oblast kills 1, injures 4. Russian troops struck central Kherson on the morning of Jan. 5, hitting a private house and killing a man, Kherson Oblast Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych wrote on Telegram.

President’s Office: Russian shelling of Beryslav in Kherson Oblast kills 3 family members. According to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the President’s Office, the family was preparing to celebrate the Orthodox Christmas when the attack occurred, “but a cynical blow by Russians killed them in their own home.”

Governor: Russian attacks on Zaporizhzhia Oblast kill 2, injure 3 civilians. Among those killed and injured were employees of the village council, who were on their way to deliver firewood for the citizens, Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Starukh reported.

General Staff: Russia has lost 109,720 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Jan. 5 that Russia had also lost 3,041 tanks, 6,108 armored fighting vehicles, 4,759 vehicles and fuel tanks, 2,051 artillery systems, 426 multiple launch rocket systems, 215 air defense systems, 284 airplanes, 271 helicopters, 1,844 drones, and 16 boats.

International response

CNN: Parts made by 13 US companies found in Iranian drone downed in Ukraine. The remaining 12 drone parts were made by companies in Canada, Switzerland, Japan, Taiwan, and China, according to the assessment.

Anti-drone tools, logistics equipment among new batch of German military aid to Ukraine. The aid package includes rocket launchers mounted on pickup trucks, drone detection systems, reconnaissance drones, tracked and remote controlled infantry vehicles for support tasks, anti-drone sensors and jammers, and other assorted support vehicles and equipment.

US, Germany announce more military aid – Bradley AFVs, additional Patriot battery. The U.S. will provide Ukraine with 50 Bradley tracked armored fighting vehicles worth $2.8 billion, while Germany greenlighted the shipment of its Marder infantry fighting vehicles. Germany will also provide Ukraine with an additional Patriot air defense battery, according to the Chancellor’s Office.

CNN: Pentagon considers training Ukrainian soldiers on Patriot in US. The U.S. Defense Department said on Jan. 5 that the country is considering bringing Ukrainians to the U.S. to train on the Patriot missile system and training overseas “or a combination of both.” It’s expected to take a few months to train the Ukrainians to operate the Patriot, which typically takes 90 troops, the Pentagon has said earlier.

Erdogan urges Putin to implement unilateral ceasefire, ‘vision for a fair solution’ in Ukraine war. “President Erdogan said calls for peace and negotiations should be supported by a unilateral ceasefire and a vision for a fair solution,” the conversation readout said.

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