(CNN) — More than 400 children have been killed and hundreds injured since the start of the war in Ukraine, according to the country’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.
A series of attacks took place in Kharkiv and Donetsk during a 36-hour ceasefire that Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to mark Russia’s and Ukraine’s Orthodox Christmas.
A civilian was killed as a result of the attacks in Donetsk on Saturday during or shortly after the Russian ceasefire, the deputy head of the Ukrainian President’s Office said.
Here is the latest news from Russia’s war in Ukraine from January 8, 2023:
More than 400 children have died in the war
Plumes of smoke rise from a Russian attack during a 36-hour ceasefire in Bakhmut on Saturday. (Clodagh Kilcoyne/Archyde.com)
At least 453 children have been killed and at least 877 injured since the start of the war in Ukrainesaid the country’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov on Saturday.
“From February 24, 2022 [Rusia] has killed 453 children [ucranianos] and injured 877,” Reznikov said in a Twitter post. “However, the real numbers are much higher. Russia has committed war crimes and has no plans to stop. #Tribunal4russia,” he said.
The report comes after UNICEF warned last month that Russian attacks on critical infrastructure in Ukraine have put the physical and mental health of “almost all children” in the country “at desperate risk”.
“Millions of children face a bleak winter huddled in the cold and dark, with little idea of how or when respite may come,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
“Beyond the immediate threats that freezing conditions bring, children are also deprived of the ability to learn or keep in touch with friends and family, putting both their physical and mental health at serious risk.”
Damaged health facilities may be unable to provide critical services, while malfunctioning water systems “increase the already extremely high risks of pneumonia, seasonal influenza, waterborne diseases and covid-19,” UNICEF said.
The ceasefire declared by Russia ends without truce and in violence
The ceasefire declared by Russia The violence ended unabated as Russia launched two missile strikes in the Kharkiv region on Saturday night.
The attack resulted in the death of a civilian, the head of the regional military administration, Oleh Syniehubov, confirmed this Sunday in a Telegram post.
The ceasefire was supposed to last 36 hours from noon Moscow time this Friday (4 am ET) to midnight local time Saturday (4 pm ET).
“Last night, the enemy launched two missile attacks on the city of Merefa, Kharkiv region. A civilian industrial facility was damaged. Unfortunately, a 50-year-old civilian was killed. In addition, the enemy shelled the village of Starytsia in the Chuhuiv district and the village of Dvorichna in the Kupiansk district during the day,” Syniehubov said.
“In Dvorichna, a private residential house and the building of the State Emergency Service unit were attacked by the enemy. Two tanker trucks and a fire brigade operating vehicle were also damaged. There were no casualties,” he added.
The attacks follow a series of attacks amid a 36-hour ceasefire that Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed on Friday to mark Russia’s and Ukraine’s Orthodox Christmas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the ceasefire proposal as “a front” used by the Russians to resupply and stop Ukrainian advances in the eastern Donbas region.
A civilian dies in Donetsk during or shortly after the ceasefire declared by Russia
Plumes of smoke rise from a Russian attack during a 36-hour ceasefire declared unilaterally by Russia over the Orthodox Christmas in Bakhmut on Saturday. (Clodagh Kilcoyne/Archyde.com)
A civilian died this Saturday in the region of Donetsk during or shortly after a 36-hour Russian ceasefire to mark Orthodox Christmas, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian President’s Office. It is unclear exactly where or how the person was killed.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk region’s military administration, had earlier confirmed that Russian forces had launched seven missile strikes in Kramatorsk and two in the town of Kostyantynivka after 11 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET), just minutes after the ceasefire ended.
The CNN team in Kramatorsk reported hearing seven explosions. A new video taken by CNN this Sunday shows a huge crater left in the street near some garages. A second crater was found outside the main entrance of a high school that caused the windows to explode. Nobody was hurt. There were no signs of a Ukrainian military presence at any of the sites.
Kyrylenko said on Telegram that the attacks in Kramatorsk damaged an educational institution and an industrial facility, and that an industrial area in Kostyantynivka was also damaged.
At least three civilians were known to have been killed during the ceasefire, two in Bakhmut and one in the Kharkiv region.
100 POWs exchanged between Russia and Ukraine
Russia and Ukraine carried out a prisoner exchange on Sunday with a total of 100 soldiers who returned to their respective countries of origin, according to the authorities of both countries.
As a result of the negotiation process, 50 Russian soldiers captured by Ukraine have been returned to Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential office, confirmed the exchange, saying that 50 Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russia have returned home.
“We returned the people who were captured at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as well as the defenders of Mariupol, the guys from the Donetsk direction, near Bakhmut, as well as from Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kherson and other regions,” Yermak said.
“This is not the last exchange. Our task is to return all our people and we are going to fulfill it, ”she said.
This is the 36th exchange between Russia and Ukraine since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, with 1,646 people, military and civilian, returning to Ukraine, according to the Coordination Headquarters on the Treatment of Prisoners of War in Kyiv. .