9 Jan.- Kyiv 

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With an order by Russian President Vladimir Putin, new air strikes hit a Ukrainian city and killed at least one body.

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Moscow has ended the ceasefire that it declared before Christmas and vowed to push on with combat until it reaches a victory over Ukraine.
"The tasks set by the president (Vladimir Putin) for the special military operation will still be fulfilled," the TASS agency quoted deputy chief of staff, Sergei Kiriyenko, as saying.

Russia ends ceasefire and vows to push on until victorious in Ukraine

Russia's overnight bombing of regions in eastern Ukraine killed at least one, local officials said on Sunday, after Moscow ended a self-declared Christmas ceasefire and vowed to push on with combat until it reaches a victory over its neighbor.

President Vladimir Putin ordered on Friday a 36-hour ceasefire along the line of contact to observe Russia and Ukraine's Orthodox Christmas, which fell on Saturday. Ukraine had rejected the truce, and there was shelling along the frontline.

A 50-year-old man died in the northeastern region of Kharkiv as a result of Russia's shelling, Oleh Sinehubov, the governor of the region said on the Telegram messaging app. The news came minutes after midnight in Moscow.

Most Ukrainian Orthodox Christians have traditionally celebrated Christmas on January 7, as have Orthodox Christians in Russia. But this year, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the country's largest, allowed also a December 25 celebration. Still, many observed the holiday on Saturday, flocking into churches and cathedrals.

The Kremlin said that Moscow will press ahead with what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine and which Kyiv and its Western allies call unprovoked aggression to grab land.

"The tasks set by the president (Putin) for the special military operation will still be fulfilled," the Russian state TASS agency quoted Putin's first deputy chief of staff, Sergei Kiriyenko, as saying.

"And there definitely will be a victory."

There is no end in sight to the war, now in its 11th month, which has killed thousands, displaced millions, and turned Ukrainian cities into rubble.

Source(s): Reuters