Ukraine War: Exploded gas pipeline in Luhansk allegedly sabotage

International

Actually, the Russian ruler had almost eleven months after the beginning of the war in the Ukraine announced a ceasefire for the Orthodox Christmas. This was not complied with. In the eastern Ukrainian cities of Kramatorsk and Bakhmut, there were still fighting on Friday.

Russian forces launched rocket attacks on Kramatorsk after the announced ceasefire, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, told Telegram. In the recently heavily contested city of Bakhmut, AFP reporters heard gunfire from both the Russian and Ukrainian sides. Meanwhile, Ukraine is waiting for a German Patriot anti-aircraft system.

January 8th

10:19 a.m.: Explosion at gas pipeline in Luhansk alleged sabotage

The explosion of a gas pipeline in the Russia annexed Luhansk region in Ukraine is due to sabotage, according to the occupiers. “For the preliminary reason: because of the blasting of the natural gas pipeline with a diameter of 300 millimeters at the open crossing over the Sukhaya river, the gas supply has failed for 13,315 customers in 9 towns,” said the civil defense of the Russian occupying power in the Luhansk region on social networks on Sunday.

Heavy frost is currently prevailing in Luhansk. The explosion happened on Sunday night. The fire could only be extinguished in the morning. There are no dead or injured. Attacks on the other side’s social infrastructure have increased since the Ukraine war autumn significantly strengthened. The Russian attackers in particular have targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. With massive rocket attacks, they try to shoot down power supply objects in order to cut off the population from the electricity supply, but also from the associated water and heat supply.

6:02 a.m .: Ukraine has the largest minefield in the world

According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal, the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine has created a 250,000 square kilometer minefield in his country.

“It is currently the largest minefield in the world,” Schmyhal said in a statement released on Saturday interview the South Korean news agency Yonhap. According to Schmyhal, the mined area corresponds to more than 40 percent of the entire land area of ​​Ukraine. “It doesn’t just make it difficult for People to travel, but it is also causing major disruption to agriculture, which is one of our main industries,” said the Prime Minister.

4:58 a.m.: Quiet officially failed

Because of the Orthodox Christmas, Vladimir Putin recently decided to pause his war of aggression for 36 hours. However, Kyiv rejected the Russian advance as hypocritical from the start, and many international observers also spoke of a pure propaganda gesture.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has now declared the ceasefire a failure because attacks have also come from Russia. “The world could see once again how wrong statements from Moscow are on every level,” said the 44-year-old in his video message on Saturday evening.

In the afternoon, while the ceasefire was officially in effect, Moscow admitted that it would continue to retaliate against Ukrainian attacks. “All positions of the Ukrainian army from which the shelling came were crushed by Russian forces returning fire,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov. There were combat operations in the Donetsk, Cherson and Zaporizhia regions. Despite this, Konashenkov claimed Russia was sticking to the self-imposed 36-hour ceasefire.

January 7th

12 p.m.: Belarus to plan mobilization

Concerns are growing among the Belarusian opposition about a possible mobilization in their country in support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The opposition politician Pawel Latuschka, who lives in exile in Warsaw, told the editorial network Germany that the preparations for this were well advanced. The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko only needs to press the button on orders from the Kremlin to start mobilizing.

Former Belarusian culture minister Latushka is a member of opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya’s cabinet in exile. As Latushka reported, citing sources from Minsk, almost all employees who report to the Belarusian Interior Ministry were asked to surrender their passports. One can also observe that the Russian military presence in Belarus is constantly growing.

According to official information, Lukashenko visited a joint Russian-Belarusian force in the country on Friday. The ruler, who is no longer recognized as president in the West, is militarily, politically and economically dependent on the Kremlin.

3:31 a.m .: Russia repels attack on Crimea

According to state information, the Russian air defense has repelled another drone attack on the Crimean Peninsula, which has been annexed since 2014. The unmanned flying object was shot down early on Saturday morning over a pier near Sevastopol, the naval base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the city’s governor, Mikhail Rasvozhayev, wrote in his Telegram channel, according to the Tass state agency.

The port has been the target of Ukrainian drone attacks on several occasions, most recently on January 4 when two drones were shot down. Despite the ceasefire unilaterally announced by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas, renewed fighting broke out in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, according to Tass, Putin himself attended an Orthodox Christmas service in the Kremlin’s Cathedral of the Annunciation. Russia supplies its occupying forces in southern Ukraine primarily through Crimea. Ukraine is therefore repeatedly targeting logistical and military targets on the peninsula.

6th January

8:08 p.m .: Hundreds of Russian soldiers injured

As the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed on Telegram, hundreds of Russian soldiers were injured in a rocket attack on January 5, 2023. Earlier, Ukrainian troops had attacked the village of Havrylivka Druha near Crimea, where it was suspected that there was a concentration of military equipment and Russian manpower.

According to information available to Ukraine, “up to 100 injured soldiers were taken to local hospitals.” How many Russian occupiers were killed is currently being determined.

(With material from dpa/afp)