The United States believed this Friday’s attacks by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine demonstrated the cynicism of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin as he declared a ceasefire ahead of Orthodox Christmas.
“I think the validity of that assessment has been confirmed given what we’ve seen all day”said State Department spokesman Ned Price, recalling that he had already described Moscow’s announcement as cynicism on Thursday.
Putin has declared a 36-hour ceasefire, which ends at midnight (Moscow time) on Saturday, but Ukraine and its Western allies have denounced the decision as a ruse.
Artillery duels continued in Bakhmut, the epicenter of the fighting in recent days, as well as shelling elsewhere in the country during the Russian ceasefire period.
“Our skepticism is justified by what we have seen from Russia during this conflict”said Price, quoted by the French agency AFP.
“Our concern is that Moscow will use any lull in the fighting to re-equip, regroup and eventually strike again with more vengeance, brutality and even lethality.”he added.
The ceasefires declared by Russia in the war that began with the invasion of the neighboring country on February 24 last year should be in effect between noon today and Saturday midnight Moscow time (9am today and 9pm Saturday). in Lisbon).
During the day, the two sides accused each other of being responsible for attacks, although Ukrainian authorities did not clarify whether their forces would stop fighting.
In Bakhmut, gunfire from the two warring sides was noticeable after the start of the ceasefire, but the intensity was lower compared to previous days, according to AFP journalists in the city.
Russia promised to respect the ceasefire, but accused Ukrainian troops of “continuing to bomb cities and Russian positions”.
The Ukrainian presidency recorded two Russian attacks in Kramatorsk (east), which hit a residential building without causing casualties.
In the Lugansk region (east), Ukrainian authorities reported 14 artillery shellings and three Russian attacks, leaving civilians in shelters.
Russian-speaking separatist authorities in eastern Ukraine said Ukrainian troops had resumed their stronghold of Donetsk before and after the ceasefire began.
In the capital Kyiv, sirens sounded warning of airstrikes about 40 minutes into the Russian ceasefire, but no explosions were heard, according to the AP news agency.
Information about the course of the war released by the two sides cannot immediately be independently verified.
Nearly 11 months of war in Ukraine has produced an undetermined number of civilian and military casualties, but several sources, such as the UN, have warned that the toll will be very high.
The war also displaced more than 14 million people, of which 6.5 million remained in the country and 7.9 million fled to European countries.
Source: DN
