Volodymyr Zelensky again condemned what he said was Russia's failure to respect the truce it had declared for Orthodox Christmas.

"The Russians shelled Kherson with incendiary munitions just after Christmas," he said, referring to the southern city that Russian forces abandoned in November. Attacks on Kramatorsk and other cities in Donbas – on civilian targets and at the exact moment when Moscow was reporting an alleged ceasefire for its army, Zelensky said.

Russia said today that 600 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a rocket attack on Kramatorsk, northwest of Bakhmut, but a Reuters reporter at the scene found no evidence of the claims.

Ukrainian forces are repelling persistent Russian attacks on the city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donbass region and are holding their positions in nearby Soledar under very difficult conditions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

– Bahmut holds on despite everything. Although most of the city has been destroyed by Russian attacks, our soldiers are repelling constant Russian attempts to advance, Zelensky said in his evening video address.

Soledar is holding on despite the fact that the destruction is even greater and the situation is very difficult, he added.