Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Russian anger grows over deadly strike
Russia said 63 Russian soldiers had been killed in a Ukrainian New Year's Eve attack.
Jan 3 (Reuters) - Russian nationalists and some lawmakers have demanded punishment for commanders they accuse of ignoring dangers as anger grew over the killing of dozens of Russian soldiers in one of the Ukraine war's deadliest strikes.
DIPLOMACY
* Some protesters in Germany are calling on Berlin to reconsider its support for Ukraine, tapping into deep connections from the legacy of Soviet ties to Communist east Germany and decades of German dependency on Russian gas.
* French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed that Ukraine "needs our support more than ever". British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also said Ukraine can count on long-term support.
* Young acrobats from circus schools across Ukraine dazzled audiences in Budapest at a circus festival to showcase the talents of children forced by the war to train underground or without electricity.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to talk to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.
FIGHTING
* In a rare disclosure, Russia said 63 Russian soldiers had been killed in a Ukrainian New Year's Eve attack on their quarters in the town of Makiivka when four rockets fired from U.S.-made HIMARS launchers hit the site. Ukraine said the Russian death toll was in the hundreds, though pro-Russian officials called that an exaggeration.
* Russian military bloggers said the huge destruction was a result of storing ammunition in the same building as a barracks, despite commanders knowing it was within range of Ukrainian rockets.
* A Russian missile attack destroyed an ice arena in the town of Druzhkivka in Ukraine's Donetsk region, Ukraine's ice hockey federation said, following earlier reports of a missile hitting the town and injuring two people.
* A little known patriotic group which supports the widows of Russian soldiers has called on Putin to order a large-scale mobilisation of millions of men and to close the borders to ensure victory in Ukraine.
* Combing the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, volunteers have made it their mission to search for bodies of fallen soldiers and return them to families.
