WAR IN UKRAINE: January 9, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 320
Ukraine says a Russian claim that hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers were killed in an attack is "propaganda". Moscow claimed, without providing any evidence, that a "mass missile strike" in eastern city of Kramatorsk killed more than 600 Ukrainian forces. "This is another piece of Russian propaganda," Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for the Ukrainian army, told the BBC.
A CNN team on the ground has seen no indication of any massive casualties in the area. There is no unusual activity in and around Kramatorsk including in the vicinity of the city morgue, the team reported
Separately, Russia's defence ministry said that Ukraine had returned 50 captured Russian soldiers after negotiations. Kyiv confirmed that it had received the same number of soldiers in return from Russia - BBC
Missile attack on Kharkiv region today: at least 7 injured. A market in the village of Shevchenkove was hit by an S-300. A 13-year-old girl is among the wounded. People may remain under the rubble. A 60-year-old woman died - Ukrainian Telegram
Ukraine says that 111,170 Russian military personnel have been killed in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on February 24 last year - RFE/RL
According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, the Russian war in Ukraine has created a minefield of 250,000 square kilometers in size in his country.
UK Defense Ministry: Russia boosts defensesin Zaporizhzhia as fears over Ukraine’s counteroffensive mount. “A major Ukrainian breakthrough in Zaporizhzhia would seriously challenge the viability of Russia’s ‘land bridge’ linking Russia’s Rostov region and Crimea,” the ministry said - Kyiv Independent