A Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk missed its targets and there were no obvious signs of casualties, a Reuters reporter said on Sunday, after Moscow said 600 Ukrainian troops were killed in the attack.

The latest on the war in Ukraine, day 319:

07:29 The government is backing an amendment to the law that would classify maps that challenge the country’s official “territorial integrity” as extremist material that could lead to criminal liability, state news agency TASS reported.

The amendment to the Russian anti-extremist legislation stipulates that “map documents and other documents and images that call into question the territorial integrity of Russia” will be qualified as extremist materials, the agency reports.

The new amendment, as reported by TASS without citing sources, appeared after its authors reported that some maps distributed in Russia deny the “territoriality” of the Crimean Peninsula and the Kuril Islands (Reuters).

A quick recap of the latest developments on Monday morning:

• Russia’s Defense Ministry said the attack on Kramatorsk was revenge for Ukrainian New Year strikes that killed at least 89 Russian soldiers in a barracks in the occupied territory of Donetsk region.
• Reuters journalists visited two university dormitories in which, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ukrainian servicemen were temporarily living near the front line at the time of the night strike. None of them appeared to have been hit by missiles or seriously damaged. There were no obvious signs of soldiers living there, no traces of corpses or blood. Also, journalist Daniele Raineri (La Repubblica) published two photos of two hostels in Kramatorsk on Twitter.
• Two thermal power plants were damaged by Ukrainian shelling in Russian-controlled parts of Donetsk region, according to preliminary reports of casualties, Moscow officials said on Sunday.
• Luhansk Governor Serhii Gaidai said on television Sunday that fierce fighting was taking place in the region and that Russian troops had moved their most trained combat units and heavy equipment to the town of Kremin, which he said meant the Russians were retreating. to the region With temperatures dropping to minus 15-17 degrees Celsius at night, the level of fighting is expected to increase soon as the bitter cold means heavy equipment is easier to move, Haidai added.
• On Saturday, shelling rang out on the mostly deserted streets of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the center of the fiercest fighting since the Russian invasion.
• Russia and Ukraine each freed 50 enemy soldiers in the latest prisoner exchange of the war. Ukraine said that among the survivors were fighters from Mariupol and Chernobyl. Upon release, the freed Ukrainians sang the national anthem.
• Russia and Belarus will organize joint training of aviation units that are part of the regional grouping of the two countries. Training will take place from January 16 to February 1. Russia and Belarus have intensified joint military training, based on Moscow’s combat experience in Ukraine, with an emphasis on conducting combat operations in cities, reports the Belarusian Ministry of Defense TV channel.
• Justice ministers from around the world will meet in London in March to boost international support for the International Criminal Court in its investigation into war crimes in Ukraine, the British government has announced.
• Vladimir Putin praised the Russian Orthodox Church for supporting Moscow’s forces fighting in Ukraine in a Christmas message aimed at rallying the population behind his vision of a modern Russia.
• Germany cannot rule out the supply of Leopard tanks, heavier combat vehicles than the Marder, to support the Ukrainian military in the future, Germany’s economy minister said.
• A new video posted on social media shows a column of Turkish 4×4 Kirpi armored vehicles on the streets of Ukraine, allegedly equipped with Romanian Pro Optica “Anubis” remotely controlled turrets.
• The Russian government intends to collect more money from some commodity producers as well as state-owned companies while cutting non-defense spending.
• Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War say that recent Russian advances in Soledar do not indicate an imminent encirclement of Bakhmut, contrary to claims by Russian sources.
• The war that Russia unleashed in Ukraine created a huge minefield on 250,000 km2 of the country’s territory, that is, almost half of the country, said Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal.

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• Sunday’s events were live here on HotNews.ro