Ukraine Day 1056: LIVE UPDATES BELOW.
Yesterday’s live coverage of the Ukraine conflict can be found here.
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An Invasion By Any Other Name: The Kremlin’s Dirty War in Ukraine
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Ukraine has endured three Christmas holidays at war, but 2017’s will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
The Ukrainian military reported a steep increase in fighting over the previous 24 hour period at their press conference on January 8.
January 7 was Christmas in the Eastern Orthodox Christian calendar, the largest religion in both Ukraine and Russia.
The headquarters of the Ukrainian Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) reported that six Ukrainian servicemen were injured as the ceasefire was breached by Russian-backed forces 72 times.
The heaviest fighting appears to have taken place in the Mariupol sector. Unian.info reports:
In the Mariupol direction, the invaders fired 122mm artillery on Vodiane and also mortars of various calibers – on Maryinka, Pavlopil, Shyrokine and Talakivka. From grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms, they fired on Pavlopil, Krasnohorivka, Maryinka, Hnutove, Starohnativka, Vodiane, Talakivka, and Shyrokine.
On Orthodox Christmas Day, militants attack Ukraine positions in Donbas 72 times, wounding six troops
Six Ukrainian soldiers were wounded as a result of the attacks, the ATO Headquarters reports. In the Mariupol direction, the invaders fired 122mm artillery on Vodiane and also mortars of various calibers – on Maryinka, Pavlopil, Shyrokine and Talakivka. From grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms, they fired on Pavlopil, Krasnohorivka, Maryinka, Hnutove, Starohnativka, Vodiane, Talakivka, and Shyrokine.
LiveUAMap compiled reports of heavy fighting on Sunday in the Mariupol sector, where, according to a Ukrainian military spokesperson, there were more than twice as many ceasefire violations as anywhere else in the country.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian military intelligence has an odd report — that a Russian military unit, the “Separate anti-aircraft missile division (based in Donetsk) of the 1st Army Corps of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” shelled a town currently occupied by the Russian-backed forces — Khartsyzk, east of Donetsk — resulting in the injury of civilians. We are so far unable to confirm this report.
— James Miller