Ukraine carried out 27 air and missile strikes

The Defense Corps of the Donetsk People’s Republic announced the liberation of the city of Pakhmutsk, located near Soledar, northeast of Artemovsk (Ukrainian name – Pakhmut). Artemivsk is located in the Kyiv-controlled part of the Donetsk People’s Republic, north of the large city of Horlivka. This city is considered an important strategic transport hub for ensuring the gathering of Ukrainian forces in the Donbass, as a network of roads and railways passes through this city, and fierce battles are now underway to establish control over Artimovsk and Solidar. On the other hand, the Ukrainian army said it had carried out 27 air and missile strikes on Russian targets in the last 24 hours, adding: “We have forced the Russian forces to remain on the defensive in the directions of Zaporozhye and Kherson.” He also pointed out that Russia is inflicting massive strikes on Bakhmut, Liman and Kobyansk, as well as shelling residential areas in Kherson with rocket launchers. The Ukrainian army also claimed the destruction of military equipment coming from Belarus and attacks on its maintenance centers, and also indicated that Belarusian military personnel are involved in servicing Russian weapons and tanks. Earlier, the Ukrainian army denied Moscow’s claims that 600 of its soldiers were killed in a Russian bombardment of Kramatorsk in the country’s east. Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Army’s Eastern Command, said Russian forces lacked the ability to deliver a precision strike, condemning what he described as a Russian media operation in the face of Ukrainian successes as he put it. The Ukrainian official added that the Russian bombing of Kramatorsk targeted civilian infrastructure and there were no casualties. On Sunday, Russian forces said they had retaliated against those killed in the bombing of the city of Mikivka, as Russian fighters bombed two gathering places for Ukrainian forces in the city of Kramtorsk. In one of the points, 700 Ukrainian soldiers were stationed, in the second – 600 soldiers. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the death toll is more than 600 Ukrainians. And the Russian Ministry of Defense terminated the prisoner exchange deal with the Ukrainian authorities, saying: “On January 8, as a result of negotiations from the territory controlled by the Kyiv regime.” He added that 50 released Russian soldiers would be sent to Moscow for medical and psychological rehabilitation. For its part, the British Ministry of Defense said that Russia used fifth-generation fighters “Dry Philo” in Ukraine, as it fired long-range missiles from the “Filon” fighters into Ukraine.