Moscow unilaterally declared a 36-hour cease-fire to coincide with Orthodox Christmas, but experts said fighting continued at routine levels.
Saturday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of failing to adhere to its promise to temporarily suspend hostilities. “The world was once again able to see today how false any words of any level that sound from Moscow are. They said something there about an alleged cease-fire. … But the reality is that Russian rounds hit Bakhmut and other Ukrainian positions again.
at the Kremlin on Saturday, praising the Russian Orthodox Church for supporting the nation’s troops. In Ukraine — which has large Orthodox Christian and Roman Catholic communities — worshipers marked the day in churches and with muted festivities. Zelensky said he was encouraged by the turnout at Orthodox Christmas services at the historic Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv.
The service was conducted in Ukrainian and the sermon was delivered by the head of the Kyiv-led branch of the church, in a symbolic show ofThe pace of Russian military gains around Bakhmut, a fiercely contested city in eastern Ukraine, is the subject of continued debate. Russian military bloggers have said it could be encircled soon but have not provided evidence for those claims, while the Institute for the Study of War says the pace of any gains is slow and the city’s fall isThe founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said on Saturday that he wanted to capture Bakhmutvast salt and gypsum mines as “underground cities” large enough to house troops, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, according to Reuters.
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