Ukraine-Kiev-January 8, 2023

Amid mutual accusations between Russia and Ukraine of non-compliance

While Ukrainians and Russians were celebrating Orthodox Christmas on Saturday , the unilateral cease-fire announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine ended, without stopping the fighting on the ground

"The world could see again today how insincere all the speeches made at the highest level in Moscow are,"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message published in the evening. "They talked about an alleged ceasefire.. But the fact is that Russian missiles continued to bombard Bakhmut (East) and other Ukrainian positions," he said, stressing that the only solution was to "expel the occupying Russians from Ukrainian territory".

The ceasefire announced by Moscow ended at midnight on Saturday (21.00 GMT) as of Friday afternoon. Ukraine accused the Russian army of not respecting it, while Russia, in turn, accused the Ukrainians of preventing its application, denouncing the continued Ukrainian artillery shelling on its positions.

Russian forces said that over the past twenty-four hours they had repelled a number of attacks by the Ukrainian army in eastern Ukraine, and that they had killed dozens of soldiers on Friday.

Ukraine considered the Russian truce a" propaganda strike " to gain time. Washington, Paris, London, Berlin and the European Union condemned the announcement of the truce.

On Friday, the United States announced military aid to Ukraine worth three billion dollars, in a package that the White House said would include Bradley-type armored vehicles, armored personnel carriers and self-propelled howitzers.

"This year of victory has just begun," the Ukrainian presidency said, adding that the US "package" also includes HIMARS precision missiles and Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles.

Western arms supplies are essential for Kiev, and in particular have enabled it to carry out an effective counteroffensive that has driven Russian forces away from the Kharkiv region in the Northeast and from the city of Kherson in the South.

The frontline has been largely frozen by the winter, but Ukraine has expressed fear of a new Russian offensive.

Meanwhile, the British government announced Saturday that the UK will host a meeting of justice ministers in March to discuss ways to support the International Criminal Court's investigation into alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

The International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, is currently investigating war crimes and crimes against humanity that may have been committed in Ukraine.