Were the guns really going to be silent for 36 hours? Vladimir Putin already seemed to know the answer. The Russian army struck twice on Friday, January 6, the city of Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, after the announced start of a unilateral ceasefire decreed by Moscow, said the deputy chief of the Ukrainian presidential administration.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered a ceasefire in Ukraine for the Orthodox Christmas of January 6 and 7, the first major truce since the start of the invasion almost a year ago, lambasted by kyiv which denounces “hypocrisy” and the desire to gain time.
The day after the announcement by France to send light tanks to Ukraine, the United States and Germany promised kyiv, in a joint press release, the delivery of armored infantry, of the Bradley type on the American side and of the Marder model. German side.
- Russian strikes in Kramatorsk despite the ceasefire announced by Moscow
Artillery duels continue this Friday in Bakhmout, the epicenter of fighting in eastern Ukraine, and shelling elsewhere in the country, despite the entry into force of the ceasefire. AFP journalists heard shots on the Ukrainian and Russian sides after the start of the ceasefire in this city with largely destroyed and deserted streets, but their intensity was lower than in previous days.
Pavlo Diatchenko, a Bakhmout policeman, said the truce was a Russian “provocation” that would not help civilians in the city. “They are bombed day and night and almost every day there are people killed,” he said. The Russian army assured to respect its truce, but accused the Ukrainian troops of “continuing to bombard the cities and the Russian positions”.
The deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, reported two Russian strikes on Kramatorsk (east) having hit a residential building without causing any casualties. Earlier, before the truce, he had mentioned a Russian bombardment on Kherson (south). The pro-Russian separatist authorities in eastern Ukraine, for their part, reported several Ukrainian bombardments on their stronghold of Donetsk before and after the theoretical entry into force of the ceasefire, announced the day before by the President Vladimir Putin.
- Russian ceasefire ‘not credible’, says EU
The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell described this Friday as “hypocrisy” the ceasefire announced by Moscow. “The Kremlin completely lacks credibility and this declaration of a desire for a unilateral ceasefire is not credible,” Josep Borrell told reporters on the sidelines of a visit to Fez, Morocco. “The answer that comes to mind for all of us is skepticism in the face of so much hypocrisy.” “The answer that comes to mind for all of us is skepticism in the face of so much hypocrisy,” he said.
- Washington and Berlin announce more military aid
The United States and Germany will deliver to Ukraine infantry armored vehicles, of the Bradley type on the American side and of the Marder model on the German side, taking a new step forward in Western military support to kyiv in the fight against the invasion Russian. “The war in Ukraine has reached a turning point,” Joe Biden told a White House meeting on Thursday, adding that “the Russians are not (relaxing) in anything,” before announcing increased US support to Ukraine. Friday, the Pentagon specified the amount of aid: 3 billion dollars.
Germany, under international pressure to beef up its military assistance to Ukraine, has also pledged to provide a Patriot anti-aircraft defense battery, as the United States has already done. “It is logical that we take this step. Ukraine has the right to defend itself against Russia’s attack and it is our duty to help it to this end,” said the German Minister of Foreign Affairs. Economy and Climate Robert Habeck. These announcements follow a telephone conversation between the US President and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who expressed their “joint determination” to support Ukraine, according to a joint statement.
- Putin orders a ceasefire in Ukraine on January 6-7
This ceasefire was declared after a request by Patriarch Kirill, the Kremlin said. “In view of the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the Russian Minister of Defense to introduce a ceasefire regime along the entire line of contact between the parties in Ukraine from 12:00 p.m. on 6 January of this year until midnight on January 7,” Vladimir Putin said in the Kremlin statement.
The Russian president also called on the Ukrainian forces to respect this truce in order to give the possibility to the Orthodox, the majority faith in Ukraine as in Russia, “to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on the day of the Nativity of Christ. “. This ceasefire, the first of magnitude since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February, comes after a request to this effect from the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill, a close supporter of Vladimir Putin. Russia’s announcement of a ceasefire in Ukraine on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas “will do nothing to advance the prospects for peace,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Thursday.
Same story on the side of German diplomacy. She said on Thursday that the “so-called” Russian ceasefire over Orthodox Christmas will bring “neither freedom nor security to people who live in daily fear under Russian occupation.” For his part, the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhaïlo Podoliak, described Thursday as “hypocrisy” the announcement of a ceasefire, accusing Moscow of wanting to “win time”.
- Biden judges that Putin is trying to “give himself some air”
Joe Biden estimated Thursday that Vladimir Putin was seeking “to give himself some air” by announcing a ceasefire in Ukraine on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas, which would be the first major truce since the start of the Russian invasion. The Russian president “was ready to bomb hospitals, nurseries and churches […] December 25 and New Years […] I think he is trying to give himself some air,” said the American president, questioned on this subject after a speech at the White House.
Joe Biden announced shortly after, in concert with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, increased military assistance to Ukraine, including the delivery by the two countries of light armored vehicles.
- Jevago says he is the victim of a “political affair”
The wealthy businessman and former Ukrainian deputy Kostiantin Jevago, the subject of an extradition request from his country, portrayed himself Thursday before French justice as a “political” victim, before being released on bail Hearing before the investigative chamber of the Chambéry Court of Appeal was to be devoted to the validity of Ukraine’s extradition request, which led to the arrest of Kostiantin Jevago on December 28 in Courchevel in Savoie .
But this debate was postponed until January 19, as requested by his lawyers, François Zimeray and Etienne Arnaud, supported moreover by Advocate General Richard Pallain. Reason: the need to examine all the documents in this 244-page file “with dozens of decisions in Ukrainian to be translated, and reports on human rights in this country”, explained Me Arnaud.
