Kiev, Dec 15, (dpa/GNA) – Ukraine’s military leadership on Thursday, ruled out a ceasefire between New Year’s and the Orthodox Christmas holiday, as it presses its allies to keep the flow of weapons coming so it can more effectively ward off the ongoing Russian invasion.
“I mean that there will be a complete ceasefire from our side only when there is no occupier left on our soil,” General Oleksiy Hromov said at a press conference. It comes a day after the Kremlin announced that no ceasefire was planned for the upcoming holidays at the beginning of January.
At present, the situation on the front had “not changed significantly,” Hromov said.
In the Luhansk region, however, Ukrainian troops had advanced about 1.5 kilometres towards the small town of Kreminna.
In the south of the country, Russian troops shelled the city of Kherson, which was liberated by the Ukrainian army in November. According to Ukrainian authorities, two people were killed and two wounded. As a result of the shelling, the city is without electricity.
Meanwhile, in eastern Ukraine, Russian occupiers reported heavy shelling of the city of Donetsk, including with rocket launchers. They said at least one person was killed and nine others injured.
As the war rages, Ukraine is scrambling to get its hands on more weapons systems, and becoming increasingly annoyed by delays among its allies.
The EU needs to stop letting divisions about other topics obstruct its support for Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Brussels, as he asked for more tanks and air defence systems.
Support for Ukraine must not depend on “misunderstandings and controversies between some EU member states,” Zelensky said, referring to a dispute about global tax agreement that is seen as delaying action on aid to Ukraine, calling on EU leaders to agree on financial aid and end a row about new sanctions on Russia.
Zelensky also urged EU leaders to supply tanks. The first person to do so “will be remembered as one of the most important defenders of freedom in our time,” he said.
Ukraine also needs help to buy energy supplies to replace gas destroyed, after Russian attacks. The country needs “about 2 billion cubic meters of gas” to compensate for losses, he said.
Meanwhile, Russia warned the US not to supply the Patriot air defence system to Ukraine.
Like other heavy weapons, these would become “legitimate priority targets” for Russian forces, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in Moscow on Thursday. She was responding to reports in the US media that Washington was considering supplying these advanced systems, to strengthen Ukrainian air defences.
This would once again significantly expand US involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, Zakharova said. “Washington has already made itself a party to the conflict on the practical level.”
The Patriot plans must be approved by Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, several US media reported, citing unnamed government sources.
The Patriot air defence system can defend against aircraft, cruise missiles, drones or missiles even at a greater distance.
One thing that could ease the pressure on Ukraine is the knowledge that no attacks are forthcoming from Belarus, from where some of the original attacks in February were launched. But British intelligence services currently consider a Russian offensive in northern Ukraine from the direction of Belarus unlikely.
But, however the war goes, Russian attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine are causing “extreme hardship” among the population, the head of the UN human rights office has warned.
More than 10 million consumers, including families, businesses, hospitals and schools, are facing cuts in electricity, and millions are cut off from a regular supply of water and heat, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said.
“Additional strikes could lead to a further serious deterioration in the humanitarian situation and spark more displacement,” he added.
“My plea is to everyone engaged in armed activities fully to respect international humanitarian law.”
Türk added that an estimated 1.5 million children are at risk of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental conditions.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Despite military setbacks, Moscow continues to control some 18% of Ukraine’s territory, including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
GNA