Jan 3 (Portal) – Russian nationalists and some lawmakers have called for punishment for commanders they accused of ignoring danger as anger mounted over the killing of dozens of Russian soldiers in one of the Ukraine war’s deadliest attacks.
STRUGGLE
* In a rare disclosure, Russia said 63 Russian soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian New Year’s Eve raid on their quarters in the town of Makiivka when four rockets fired from US-made HIMARS launchers hit the compound. Ukraine said the death toll in Russia is in the hundreds, although pro-Russian officials called it an exaggeration.
* Russian military bloggers said the huge destruction was the result of storing ammunition in the same building as a barracks, even though commanders knew it was within range of Ukrainian missiles.
* Ukraine said on Monday it shot down all 39 drones fired by Russia in a third straight night of airstrikes on civilian targets in the capital Kyiv and other cities.
Ukrainian soldiers ride on an armored personnel carrier (APC) as Russia’s assault on Ukraine continues in the village of Torske, Donetsk region, Ukraine, December 30, 2022. Portal/Yevhen Titov
* A Russian missile attack on Monday destroyed an ice arena in the town of Druzhkivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine said, after earlier reports that a missile had hit the town, injuring two people.
* A Russian-backed military information center in the Donetsk region said there were 69 Ukrainian attacks on the region, including Makiivka, on Monday.
DIPLOMACY
* Zelenskiy said Ukraine was waiting for the first tranche of European Union (EU) macro-financial assistance for 2023 in January, after speaking with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
* Japan’s “anti-Russian stance” is making talks of a peace deal impossible, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said in an op-ed published by the state news agency TASS on Tuesday. Russia and Japan did not officially end hostilities of World War II.
Compiled by Compiled by Michael Perry; Edited by Robert Birsel
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