The Japan Times - Russia fires deadly barrage on Ukraine as it presses on key city

The city in the eastern Donetsk region has been in the Kremlin's sights for months, as its capture would enable Russia to obstruct vital Ukrainian supply routes.

The Russian defence ministry said Saturday its troops "liberated" the village of Krymske in Toretsk's northeastern suburbs.

Fighting in the nearly three-year war has shown no signs of de-escalating, despite US President Donald Trump's promise to enact a ceasefire within "24 hours" of taking office on January 20.

At least 12 people died in Russian strikes on central and eastern Ukraine overnight and early Saturday, according to authorities.

Eight of those, including a child, were killed in a missile hit on a residential building in the central city of Poltava, emergency services said.

They published images showing firefighters searching through the smouldering ruins of a building.

The growing human and military toll of the war has also fuelled tensions over mobilisation in Ukraine.

Earlier in the day, a man armed with a hunting rifle shot dead a Ukrainian army recruitment soldier and escaped with a conscript, both of whom were later caught, authorities said.

Attacks on recruiting authorities are rare, but have taken place before in both Ukraine and Russia.

An explosion at a Ukrainian army recruitment centre in the western city of Rivne earlier Saturday left one person dead and six wounded, according to police, although authorities did not say the cause.

- War nears three-year mark -

In addition to Poltava, Russia targeted east Ukraine.

In Kharkiv, a Russian drone shot down by air defences fell on a residential area, killing a woman and injuring four other people, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said on Telegram.

Russia also launched an airstrike on a border municipality in the northeastern Sumy region, killing three police officers, the regional administration said.

Separate Russian attacks on the southern Kherson region killed two people, police said.

The Russian defence ministry said its overnight strikes had hit gas and energy infrastructure that supply Ukraine's "military-industrial complexes".

In total, Moscow fired 42 missiles and 123 drones including decoys in the overnight barrage, the Ukrainian air force said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the attacks, saying they showed his country needed more defence systems to protect itself from "Russian terror".

"Every air defence system, every anti-missile is a lifesaver. It is very important that our partners act and increase pressure on Russia, " Zelensky said.

He added that damage had been reported in six regions -- Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia.

Russia's invasion will hit its three-year mark this month.

Both Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have said they are ready for talks on ending the war, but neither side has said when or how.

Trump has been critical of the billions Washington has spent arming Ukraine, while threatening to impose additional sanctions on Russia if Putin does not reach a "deal" to end the war.

Putin said last month he was willing to hold talks with Ukraine, but not with Zelensky, whom he called "illegitimate".

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T.Ikeda--JT