Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: Russia blames Ukraine for breaking ceasefire

A worker removes snow at the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 21, 2022. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/Xinhua)

Despite Russian troops' observance of the truce, Ukraine continued artillery shelling of populated areas and Russian positions, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

MOSCOW/KIEV, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis:

In accordance with instructions of the Russian president and the defense minister, a ceasefire regime has been declared along the entire line of contact in Ukraine from Friday noon to Saturday midnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a daily report on Friday.

Despite Russian troops' observance of the truce, Ukraine continued artillery shelling of populated areas and Russian positions, while Russian forces responded with fire, the ministry said.

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Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Thursday that Kiev will agree on a ceasefire with Russia only after Russian troops are withdrawn from Ukraine.

The Russian Federation must leave and only then will it have a "temporary truce," Podolyak said on his Twitter account.

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a temporary ceasefire along the frontline of fighting, the Kremlin press service said in a statement.

According to the statement, the truce will last for 36 hours starting at noon local time (0900 GMT) on Jan. 6, when Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas. Putin also called on Kiev to declare a ceasefire based on the fact that a large number of Orthodox citizens live in the combat areas.

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The United States and Germany will send Ukraine armored fighting vehicles built respectively by the two countries to bolster Kiev in its ongoing conflict with Russia, the White House said Thursday.

The announcement was made in a statement about a telephone conversation between U.S. President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier in the day.

During the call, Biden expressed the intent to supply Ukraine with armored fighting vehicles without specifying how many will go to Ukraine. Scholz said Germany was also prepared to aid Ukraine.

The United States and Germany will train Ukrainian forces on how to operate the respective vehicles being given to Ukraine.

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In a phone call on Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed a Ukrainian grain export deal and natural gas cooperation, Türkiye's presidential office said in a statement.

Türkiye will improve its infrastructure in order to build a natural gas center, Erdogan told Putin, adding that calls for peace and negotiations should be supported by a unilateral ceasefire and a vision for a fair solution to the Ukrainian conflict.

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On Wednesday, the Russian armed forces destroyed two depots of artillery ammunition of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told a daily briefing on Thursday.

The Russian Aerospace Forces shot down a Su-24 aircraft and a Su-25 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force, he said, adding that 21 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed.

In addition, five U.S. HIMARS multiple rocket launchers and four U.S. HARM anti-radar missiles were intercepted in Lugansk and Kherson, Konashenkov said.

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Russia struck Ukrainian forces in the Kupyansk direction, taking out more than 40 Ukrainian servicemen, two motor vehicles, and one sabotage and reconnaissance group in Kharkov, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a daily report on Wednesday.

In the Krasny Liman direction, Russia launched artillery strikes at two assault detachments as well as manpower and hardware concentration areas of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which lost over 150 soldiers, one armored personnel carrier, seven armored fighting vehicles and three pickups.

Russian forces continued their offensive in the Donetsk direction and the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost over 100 personnel, one tank, four armored fighting vehicles and five motor vehicles.