Russian troops to cease fire in Ukraine for Christmas

Russian troops received instructions from Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to introduce a ceasefire for 36 hours from noon on January 6 to the end of January 7 in the special operation zone in Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on its Telegram channel. These instructions were given in accordance with the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, about which on the evening of January 5 informed Kremlin press office.

“Given the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation to introduce a ceasefire regime along the entire line of contact between the parties in Ukraine from 12:00 January 6, 2023 to 24:00 January 7, 2023,” reads a message posted on the Kremlin’s website . The head of state also noted that a large number of Orthodox Christians live in the areas of hostilities. Therefore, he called on the Ukrainian side to also declare a ceasefire.

Patriarch Kirill on the morning of January 5 addressed to all “parties of the internecine conflict” with a call to establish a “Christmas truce”. He led arguments that the Russian military-political leadership repeated after him, proposing a “ceasefire” from 12:00 on January 6 to 24:00 on January 7, “so that Orthodox people can attend services” on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On the website of the Moscow Patriarchate notedthat the decision was made by Putin and Shoigu after Kirill’s speech.

Officially in the Kremlin commented the issue of a truce against the background of the holidays on December 14: then the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that “the topic is not on the agenda.” On January 5, Kyiv already reacted to Putin’s order and Shoigu’s reaction. In particular, Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, called this step hypocritical on his Twitter, saying that a “temporary truce” could only begin after the withdrawal of troops. Moscow has repeatedly said that such a development of events is impossible.

Russia’s special operation in Ukraine began on February 24, 2022. Previously, a temporary ceasefire regime in the combat zone for a long period was not officially announced.