Siberian cold freezes Ukraine’s military advance during Orthodox Christmas

Low temperatures appear to have frozen progress in Ukraine during Orthodox Christmas, where The Siberian cold threatens to further stagnate positions on both sides across the entire battle front.

In his Christmas message, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke this Sunday of “kindness, mercy and justice”, and praised the religious people who help the “heroes” participating in the military campaign, but there is no trace of compassion for the enemy. Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7.

Putin attended midnight mass in the company of relatives of those killed in the ranks of the Russian army, a figure that has remained stable at 5,937 since September 2022, although independent sources speak of almost 50,000 deaths. In Moscow it was 25 degrees below zero and the same winter temperatures hit the war front area in Ukraine.

A year ago Putin accepted the request of one of his main allies, the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church Kirill, and decreed a 36-hour Christmas truce. This unilateral gesture was rejected by Kiev and its Western allies, so the fighting never stopped.

On this occasion the truce was interrupted after the death of 25 civilians in the Ukrainian artillery attack on December 30 against the city of Belgorod.

Putin promised that this attack would not remain “imposed”which caused the intense bombings last week, which last Saturday caused more than a dozen deaths in the Donetsk region alone and two more on Sunday in the southern area of ​​Kherson.

Indeed, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia attacked southern and eastern Ukraine with a total of 28 drones and three S-300 guided missiles.

Furthermore, according to Kiev, Moscow has collected about 40 Kalibr missiles from the Black Sea fleet to hammer Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

At the same time, The arctic cold wave that has devastated the European part of Russia in recent days seems to have reached the front.

Meteorological services predict that next week temperatures will drop to 12 degrees below zero in the north and east of the country, the epicenter of the fighting. A year ago the “general winter” significantly slowed the fighting and delayed the Ukrainian counteroffensive until June.

For now, while Ukrainian troops remain on the defensive, Russian troops do not give up their efforts to surround the Avdivka bastion, the main objective of the Russian offensive in October, albeit without major territorial gains.

Indeed, said the Ukrainian General Staff having repelled a total of 24 enemy attacks near Avdivka and nine others not far from Márinka, which has been under Russian control since mid-December.

In turn, the Ukrainian army concentrated on striking the Russian rearguard. According to local authorities, Kiev managed to destroy a half-built strategic railway bridge that was supposed to serve as a logistical link between mainland Russia and the annexed Crimean peninsula.

Furthermore, the Ukrainian Air Force claims to have destroyed a Russian command post at the Saki airport in Crimea, which had already been hit in mid-2022. The aim would be to weaken the anti-aircraft shield protecting the peninsula bathed by Black. Sea

Meanwhile the German newspaper “BILD am Sonntag” reported that alleged Russian drones have been flying over German army training camps and barracks for weeks, particularly places where Ukrainian soldiers train.

Liberal Party defense expert Marcus Faber told the newspaper that “drones are regularly seen over the Klietz military training area (west of Berlin), where the army trains Ukrainians to use the Leopard 1 (tank)”.

“In other places, sometimes multiple drones enter the airspace at the same time. “This is clearly organized and strongly targeting Russia,” she said.

In another twist, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa arrived Sunday on a surprise trip to Kiev to prepare for the international conference Tokyo will host on Feb. 19 on the reconstruction of Ukraine.

The visit comes after Kiev warned on Saturday that Russia may have used North Korean missiles in its December 2 bombing of the city of Kharkiv, in line with US complaints, an issue that will be addressed on January 10. by the UN Security Council.

Sources: EFE, AP and Clarín agencies