Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has continued at a “routine level”

Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has continued at a “routine level” into the Orthodox Christmas period, Qazet.az reports according to the UK Ministry of Defence.

In its daily intelligence update, the ministry said that in the fiercely contested area around Kremina town in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk province, fighting was focused in heavily forested terrain to the town’s west, where “combat has devolved to dismounted infantry fighting, often at short range”.

The ministry said:

With the coniferous woodland providing some cover from air observation even in winter, both sides are highly likely struggling to accurately adjust artillery fire.

Russian commanders will highly likely view pressure around Kremina as a threat to the right flank of their Bakhmut sector, which they see as key for enabling any future advance to occupy the remainder of Donetsk Oblast.