Ukraine’s military says it killed an estimated 800 Russian soldiers on Wednesday alone, during fighting in the eastern Donetsk region, even as Western allies pledged supplies of armoured battle vehicles.
This is as Russian president, Vladimir Putin is said to be open for peace talks with Ukraine to end the war, provided ‘new territorial realities’ are accepted.
Giving its regular morning roundup of the fighting, Ukraine’s military said on Thursday, January 5, that Russian forces were focused on an offensive in the Bakhmut area and its attacks in the Avdiivka and Kupiansk sectors were unsuccessful.
The Ukranian military said more than 800 Russian soldiers, one aircraft, a helicopter and three tanks were destroyed over the past day.
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It also reported an unspecified number of civilian casualties as a result of Russian air, missile and rocket attacks on the Ukrainian-held city of Bakhmut and two other cities in the Donetsk region.
A senior U.S. administration official on Wednesday gave a sobering assessment of fighting in the Donetsk region, especially around Bakhmut.
“The fighting is still quite hot … what we’re seeing in Bakhmut we should expect to see elsewhere along the front that there will be continued fighting in the coming months,” the official said.
In his Wednesday evening video address, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian troops outside Bakhmut were inflicting numerous losses on their adversaries and Russia was building up its forces in the region.
Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar, citing his ministry’s main intelligence directorate, wrote on the Telegram app that Russia is experiencing significant losses and would likely have to announce another partial mobilisation in the first quarter of the year.
On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron told Zelenskiy France would send light AMX-10 RC armoured combat vehicles to help the war effort, a French official said on Wednesday after the two leaders spoke by telephone.
While the official said these would be the first Western armoured vehicles delivered to Ukraine, Australia has given Kyiv 90 of its Bushmaster vehicles, an armoured unit hardened against landmines and other threats.
President Joe Biden then added on Wednesday that the United States was considering sending Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine,
The Bradley armoured vehicle, which has a powerful gun, has been a U.S. Army staple to carry troops since the mid-1980s. The U.S. Army has thousands of them, and they would give Ukraine more firepower on the battlefield and strengthen its ability in trench warfare.
Zelenskiy thanked Macron for the announcement and said it showed the need for other allies to provide heavier weapons.
“This is something that sends a clear signal to all our partners. There is no rational reason why Ukraine has not yet been supplied with Western tanks,” he said.
The United States is preparing another package of weapons, which could be announced in coming days on top of about $21.3 billion in security assistance so far to Ukraine.
Russia launched its “special military operation” on Feb. 24, citing threats to its security and a need to protect Russian speakers. Ukraine and its allies accuse Russia of an unprovoked war to seize territory.
Putin gives condition for peace
Russian president, Vladimir Putin has revealed that he’s open for peace talks with Ukraine to end the war, but only if Kyiv accepts ‘new territorial realities.’
The Kremlin claims it has annexed the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions despite not controlling them in their entirety.
The Kremlin said on Thursday, January 5, that Putin told Erdogan peace talks are possible, but only if Ukraine accepts that territories occupied by Moscow as Russian.
‘‘Putin again confirmed Russia’s openness to serious dialogue on the condition of Kyiv authorities fulfilling the well-known and repeatedly voiced requirements of taking into account the new territorial realities,’’ the Kremlin said in a statement.
Erdogan had called for peace talks in the phone call with Putin, his office said earlier.
‘‘The Russian side emphasised the destructive role of Western states, pumping the Kyiv regime with weapons and military equipment, providing it with operational information and targets,’’ the statement from the Kremlin added.
This is not the first time Putin has expressed that he is ready for peace talks under the conditions set out by Moscow.
On Christmas Day, in an interview with state television about the war in Ukraine, Putin said that Russia is ‘prepared to negotiate some acceptable outcomes.’’
The leaders also discussed the implementation of a landmark grain deal, brokered by the UN with the help of Turkey, to unblock Ukrainian grain.
The Kremlin said the pair discussed ‘the unblocking of food and fertiliser supplies from Russia’ and the need for ‘the removal of all barriers to Russian exports.’
Meanwhile, Putin on Thursday, January 5, ordered a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine over Orthodox Christmas.
This is the first major truce of the more than 10-month long war.
Putin ordered the ceasefire to begin on Jan. 6, the Kremlin said.
Many Orthodox Christians, including those living in Russia and Ukraine, celebrate Christmas on Jan. 6-7.
