Kiev - (AFP) - Two Ukrainians were killed and nine others wounded Sunday, according to Kiev, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's unilateral declaration of a ceasefire on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas.

On Sunday, the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Kyrilo Tymoshenko, confirmed that one person was killed and eight others were wounded in the eastern Donetsk region during the past 24 hours as a result of the "Russian armed aggression."

Tymoshenko said that another person was killed in the northeastern Kharkiv region and another wounded in the southern Kherson region in the same period.
"Despite the so-called 'ceasefire' declared by the Russian occupiers, the enemy fired nine missiles, (carried out) three air strikes and launched 40 attacks from several missile launchers," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a separate statement.

"Civilian infrastructure was particularly bombed," she added.

Putin had ordered a 36-hour ceasefire to allow Orthodox Christians to observe Christmas, which is celebrated on January 7 in Russia and Ukraine.

The unilateral ceasefire ended at 11:00 pm in Kiev (21:00 GMT) on Saturday.

Correspondents in Kiev and Agence France-Presse on the ground said there were no significant signs that the fighting had subsided on Saturday.

"After midnight, the enemy launched seven missile attacks on Kramatorsk and two on Kostyantinivka," Donetsk region governor Pavlo Kirilenko said.

On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry stressed that it respected the armistice, but confirmed that it had repelled a number of Ukrainian attacks and killed dozens of Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine rejected the truce, seeing it as a tactic by Russia to buy time and to regroup its forces and strengthen its defenses after a series of setbacks on the battlefield.

And the governor of the Luhansk region, Sergei Gaidai, announced that the Russians are redeploying forces from Bakhmut, the current center of fighting, to the city of Kremina.

"We expect an escalation in the fighting," he added, referring to the drop in temperatures.
"Our heavy equipment will finally be able to move forward faster," he said.