Ukraine says its forces repel constant Russian attacks in east - Reuters

KYIV/KRAMATORSK, Ukraine, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Ukraine is strengthening its forces successful the eastbound Donbas portion and repelling changeless attacks connected Bakhmut and different towns determination by Russian mercenary radical Wagner, Ukrainian authorities said connected Monday.

Reinforcements had been sent to Soledar, a tiny municipality adjacent Bakhmut were the concern was peculiarly difficult, they said.

"The force again made a hopeless effort to tempest the metropolis of Soledar from antithetic directions and threw the astir nonrecreational units of the Wagnerites into battle," Ukraine's subject said successful a statement.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said successful nightly video remarks connected Sunday that Bakhmut and Soledar were holding connected contempt wide destruction.

"Our soldiers are repelling changeless Russian attempts to advance," helium said. In Soledar "things are precise difficult".

Further northbound successful the Kharkiv region, a Russian rocket onslaught connected the section marketplace wounded 7 civilians, including a 13-year-old girl, the determination centre of exigency aesculapian assistance said.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, laminitis of the Wagner mercenary radical which has been trying to seizure Bakhmut and Soledar for months successful grinding warfare that has outgo galore lives connected some sides, said connected Saturday its significance laic successful the web of mines there.

"It not lone (has the quality to hold) a large radical of radical astatine a extent of 80-100 metres, but tanks and infantry warring vehicles tin besides determination about."

Military analysts accidental the strategical subject payment for Moscow would be limited. A U.S. authoritative has said the Wagner radical is eying the brackish and gypsum from the mines there.

Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesperson for Ukraine's East command, said helium thought it would beryllium imaginable to stabilise the situation.

"There are brutal and bloody battles determination - 106 shellings successful 1 day," helium said connected Ukrainian television.

"Our troops successful Soledar person been allocated further forces and means for this intent and everything is being done to amended the operational concern there."

Reuters was not capable to independently verify the battlefield reports.

NO CHRISTMAS CEASEFIRE

Zelenskiy made a caller denunciation of what helium called Russia's nonaccomplishment to observe a ceasefire it had declared for Russian Orthodox Christmas connected Friday and Saturday.

Ukraine ne'er agreed to the ceasefire, which it called a Russian excuse to reenforce troops. Both sides accused the different of continuing hostilities passim the period.

"Russians were shelling Kherson with incendiary ammunition instantly aft Christmas," helium said, referring to the confederate metropolis abandoned by Russian forces successful November.

"Strikes connected Kramatorsk and different cities successful Donbas - connected civilian targets and astatine the precise clip erstwhile Moscow was reporting a expected 'silence' for its army."

On Sunday, Russia said a rocket onslaught connected Kramatorsk, northwest of Bakhmut, had killed 600 Ukrainian soldiers, but a Reuters newsman astatine the country recovered no disposable signs of casualties.

A Reuters squad visited 2 assemblage dormitories that Moscow said had been temporarily lodging Ukrainian unit and which it had targeted arsenic revenge for a New Year's onslaught that killed scores of Russian soldiers and caused outcry successful Russia.

But neither dormitory successful the eastbound metropolis of Kramatorsk appeared to person been straight deed oregon earnestly damaged. There were nary evident signs that soldiers had been surviving determination and nary motion of bodies oregon traces of blood.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, a Ukrainian subject spokesperson for the eastbound region, described the assertion of wide casualties arsenic an effort by the Russian defence ministry to amusement it had responded forcefully to Ukraine's caller strikes connected Russian soldiers.

"This is an accusation cognition of the Russian defence ministry," Cherevatyi told Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne News.

As Moscow's penetration of Ukraine grinds towards the one-year mark, Russia's subject is nether home unit to present battlefield successes.

Hawkish voices person sought an escalation of the warfare effort aft setbacks specified arsenic nonaccomplishment of captured territory and precocious rates of decease and injury.

Some salient Russian subject bloggers person criticised the Russian defence ministry claims.

"Let's speech astir 'fraud'," wrote 1 salient pro-war subject blogger connected the Telegram messaging app, who posts nether the sanction of Military Informant and who has much than fractional a cardinal subscribers.

"It is not wide to america who, and for what reason, decided that 600 Ukrainian soldiers died inside, each astatine once, if the gathering was not really deed (even the airy remained on).

"Instead of the existent demolition of the force personnel, which would person been a worthy response, an exclusively media cognition of retaliation was invented."

The militaries of some Russia and Ukraine person often overstated force losses, portion minimising their own.

Ukraine's apical subject officials said past week immoderate 760 Russian troops had been killed oregon wounded successful 2 attacks connected Moscow-controlled parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. These reports could not beryllium independently verified.

Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Lincoln Feast and Philippa Fletcher; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, and Clarence Fernandez and Peter Graff

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.