Published on: 08/01/2023 – 08:58 Modified on: 08/01/2023 – 18:55
Russia and Ukraine exchanged 50 prisoners each on Sunday, following an agreement welcomed by Kyiv and Moscow. Fighting on the ground continues the day after the end of the Christmas peace unilaterally decreed by Russia. Follow the latest developments in the war in Ukraine live.
5:40 p.m.: POW exchange between Russia and Ukraine
Russia and Ukraine have each exchanged 50 prisoners of war in a mutually welcomed agreement, although fighting in eastern Ukraine continues.
“On January 8, after negotiations, 50 Russian soldiers whose lives were in danger during their detention were released from the area controlled by the Kiev regime,” he said in a statement.
Ukraine confirmed the information and said that Russia released 50 Ukrainian soldiers under the same agreement.
5:26 p.m .: Ukraine denies Russian attacks on barracks in Kramatorsk
Ukraine has denied any attacks on Kramatorsk barracks, saying the Russian claim “is not true”.
“Russian troops are not capable of delivering high-precision strikes,” a spokesman for the Ukrainian army’s “East” command, Serguiï Tcherevaty, told media Suspilne, denouncing a Russian “communications operation” in the face of Ukrainian successes.
Local Ukrainian authorities reported that Kramatorsk was hit by seven rockets overnight. Two more missiles were aimed at the nearby town of Kostyantynivka.
The Portal news agency present in Kramatorsk noted damage in the city, but found neither a destroyed building nor a trace of victims.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Portal journalists were able to visit two university dormitories where Ukrainian soldiers were being housed near the front lines during the overnight strike from Saturday to Sunday.
None of the buildings appeared to have been hit directly by the rockets or sustained serious damage. The journalists also found no evidence of the possible presence of Ukrainian soldiers and discovered no bodies or traces of blood.
1:56 p.m.: The Russian army claims to have carried out attacks on Kramatorsk in “retaliation” for that of Makiivka
The Russian army claims to have attacked military barracks in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine and inflicted heavy casualties on its opponent in “retaliation” for Ukraine’s bombing of Makiivka in the new year that killed 89 Russian soldiers. Russia claimed to have killed 600 Ukrainian soldiers in this military operation.
“In response to the criminal strike of the Kiev regime in the first minutes of January 2023 … the Russian armed forces conducted a retaliatory operation,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in its daily report, noting that two barracks were hit.
10:47: “The shooting never stopped during the ceasefire,” stresses our special correspondent in Ukraine, Mélina Huet
01:58
8.12 a.m.: In the Donbass, a military chaplain with Ukrainian troops for Christmas
A Ukrainian military chaplain went to the front in Donbass to celebrate Orthodox Christmas with the troops. “We all believe in miracles. We know that our army is smaller than that of our enemies, but God is with us,” he assured the soldiers before a prayer. Report of France 2 special envoys in Ukraine.
01:53 A believer lights a candle during an Orthodox Christmas mass at a shelter in eastern Ukraine on January 7, 2023. © Dimitar Dilkoff, AFP
7:43 a.m.: Rocket fire on two thermal power plants in eastern Ukraine under Russian control
Two thermal power plants in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, which are under the control of the Russian army, were damaged by a rocket attack by the Ukrainian army, Moscow-installed political officials and the Russian state news agency Tass report.
Officials added on their Telegram accounts that the attack on Zuhres and Novyi Svit power plants also caused casualties. At one of the two locations, two people could still be trapped in the rubble, according to Tass.
12:30 am: End of Russian unilateral ceasefire
The ceasefire decreed by Moscow midday on Friday ended at midnight (2100 GMT) on Saturday, with Ukraine accusing the Russian army of disrespecting it and Russia in turn accusing Ukrainians of preventing its application by threatening them with retaliatory measures force.
Journalists present in Chassiv Iar in eastern Ukraine noted sustained bombing throughout the morning on Saturday. In Bakhmout, the epicenter of the fighting further north, AFP had heard artillery fire from both sides of the front line as early as Friday, in the hours after Russia established the unilateral ceasefire. These shots were at best of lesser intensity compared to the previous days.
Near the town of Koupyansk, where France 24’s special envoys in Ukraine were stationed, Russian strikes continued throughout the ceasefire. Report alongside residents who are upset by the almost constant bombing.
01:27
With Portal and AFP