Russia Despite the cold: heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine
Ukraine's frontlines have once again been shaken by heavy fighting with artillery support.
16.12.2024, 05:40
SDA
In its evening situation report, the General Staff in Kiev listed a total of 214 battles on the various sections of the front. Once again, the focus was on the regions around Pokrovsk and Kurakhove on the edge of the Donbass, where Russian troops had made major territorial gains in recent days with mass attacks. Both sides contradicted each other in their reports, so that an independent view of the exact course of the front was not possible. "The situation there is and remains serious," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
The military blog "DeepState" reported that the Ukrainian armed forces had at least re-established their position near Kolisnykivka in the Kharkiv region.
The sections occupied by Ukraine in the western Russian region of Kursk were also heavily contested once again. Russian troops attempted to recapture the areas occupied by Ukrainian units since the summer. According to Ukrainian reports, the North Korean soldiers integrated into the Russian units suffered heavy losses for the first time.
The Ukrainian unit "Madjar" deployed there published video footage of a reconnaissance drone on Platform X showing the bodies of soldiers lying side by side in the snow. According to "Madjar", North Korean soldiers had collected their fallen comrades at a section of the front after heavy fighting. No independent confirmation of this was available.
North Korea is supporting the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine with around 10,000 soldiers, who have been deployed to the front near Kursk with new weapons and equipment after a short period of training.
Ukrainian military destroys Russian supply train
According to their own account, Ukrainian commandos destroyed a Russian supply train in cooperation with artillery and drones. By blowing up the rails in the Zaporizhzhya region, the train, which consisted of 40 tank wagons, was forced to stop on the open track. The locomotive and the last wagon were then attacked with long-range rocket artillery before combat drones attacked the remaining wagons and set them on fire.
As Ukrainian media reported, citing the military intelligence service HUR, this attack not only disrupted the supply of fuel to the Russian troops. In addition, an important railroad supply line for the Russian military was put out of operation for an extended period of time. Ukrajinska Pravda" published a video of a reconnaissance drone on Platform X, which, according to the newspaper, shows the attack on the train.
Ukrainian media also reported an attack on railway tracks in the Russian city of Ulyanovsk on the Volga. The regional administration of Ulyanovsk rejected such reports on social media as "fake".
Moscow criticizes Berlin's course in Ukraine and German ambassador
Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry criticized the German ambassador in Moscow, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, after his calls for peace on behalf of the German government's policy. Count Lambsdorff should direct his calls to the West and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, wrote Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on her Telegram channel. "The direct responsibility for the deaths of people lies with the collective West, which stimulates the continuation of the bloodshed by supplying weapons."
The scolding was triggered by Lambsdorff's statements at a Christmas concert in Moscow in front of several hundred spectators. There he had declared his hope for peace.
Russian President Vladimir Putin began the invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago with a massive missile attack on the neighboring country. Since then, hundreds of towns and communities in Ukraine have been destroyed. It is estimated that tens of thousands of people, including many civilians, have been killed.
Many war crimes, especially by the Russian army, have been documented. Despite this, the Kremlin blames the violence solely on Ukraine, which it has attacked, and the West. Zakharova also declared once again that Kiev had blocked the peace negotiations. Russia is outwardly willing to talk, but is setting conditions for peace negotiations that come close to a capitulation by Ukraine.
