Russia’s 36-hour ceasefire began at noon Moscow time, ordered by President Vladimir Putin for Russian Orthodox Christmas on January 7. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected the ceasefire, calling it a move designed to give Russian soldiers time to rest and get reinforcements while preventing Ukrainian advances.
Multiple media outlets are reporting that shelling is continuing from Russian-occupied areas.
The Institute for the Study of War thinks tank said Putin’s move was likely an information operation to make Ukraine appear aggressive and unwilling to negotiate.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is receiving more military aid from its American and European allies, including artillery shells, light tanks, and Bradley fighting vehicles.
Ukraine will necessity at least $1.79 billion to restore its telecommunications sector to pre-war levels, a UN agency said in a report alleging Russia had “completely demolished or seized” networks in parts of the country.
The long-awaited and sensitive damage assessment conducted by the Geneva-based International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was commissioned in April to assess the extent of the destruction of Ukraine’s communication networks as a result of Russia’s invasion last February.
The report, which covers the first six months of the war, found that there was considerable damage and destruction to communications infrastructure in more than 10 of Ukraine’s 24 regions.
“Since the beginning of the military attacks, in order to use the facilities in his interest and for his own needs, the aggressor completely destroyed or seized the normal functioning of public and private terrestrial telecommunications and critical infrastructure in the temporarily occupied and war territories. affected territories of Ukraine,” the report says.