(Kiev) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered his army to observe an Orthodox Christmas truce in Ukraine on January 6-7, the first major ceasefire since the invasion began nearly a year ago, calling it “hypocritical”.
The announcement comes after a call from Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, but after a proposal from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who in the morning met Mr. Contacted Putin.
“Considering the request of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the Russian Defense Minister to introduce a ceasefire regime in all communications between the parties in Ukraine from 12 noon on January 6th to 24:00 hours on January 7th of this year. Quoted in a statement from the Kremlin. Russian President said.
He called on Ukrainian forces to honor the fighting, allowing Orthodox, the majority confession in Ukraine, the same as in Russia, to “attend services on Christmas Eve and Nativity Day.” .
The ceasefire is the first of a general nature since the beginning of the war, with only local agreements concluded so far, such as the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal factory in Mariupol (southeast) in April.
“Russia must leave the occupied territories, only then will there be a ‘temporary cease-fire’. Keep your hypocrisy,” replied Myklo Podoliak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, on Twitter.
Is Turkey a mediator?
In his telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin, Mr. Erdogan meanwhile proposed a “unilateral ceasefire” aimed at supporting “calls for peace and talks between Moscow and Kiev”.
The Turkish president, who has been posing as a mediator in the conflict, spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, although he did not mention the demand for a “unilateral ceasefire”.
Russia is ready for “serious dialogue” with Ukraine, Mr. Putin initially responded that the latter would have to comply with Russian demands and accept the “new regional realities” born of the invasion of this country in February.
Moscow in September annexed four regions in Ukraine that were at least partially occupied by its military, despite repeated military setbacks on the ground, modeled on the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in March 2014.
Volodymyr Zelensky insists on a total withdrawal of Russian forces from his country, including Crimea, before any talks with Moscow. Otherwise, he promises to take back the occupied territories by force.
Mr. During the discussion with Erdogan, Mr. Putin spoke of the “destructive role of the West” in the conflict due to arms supplies critical to the Ukrainian war effort. Putin rebuked once again.
The Russian head of state accused the West of “feeding the Kyiv regime with weapons and military equipment, providing operational and targeting information.”
Turkey, a member of NATO, has not aligned itself with sanctions against Russia and is trying to maintain a mediating position between Kiev and Moscow. It played an important role in the agreement allowing the export of Ukrainian grain.
Russian patriarch Kirill has had little influence in Ukraine since the country established an independent church in 2018-2019, and a loyalist to Moscow cut ties with Russia in May over the invasion.
Photo by Yulia Morozova, Reuters
Patriot grill
Debris and broken glass
Mr. A ceasefire was declared by Putin. A particularly deadly bombing that the Russian military had to acknowledge, a rare fact, raised criticism in Russia against the military command.
On the frontline in Ukraine, bombings continued on Thursday, particularly in the south, where a woman and her 12-year-old son were killed in a Russian bombardment in Perysla, near Kherson, Kyrillo, the deputy head of the presidential administration, said. Tymoshenko.
Governor Oleksandr Staruk said two people were killed and three others wounded in a strike in a village in the southern region of Zaporizhia.
Residents of the eastern town of Chassiv Iar told AFP a Russian missile hit a building before dawn on Thursday, injuring a man and a woman.
Photo by CLODAGH KILCOYNE, REUTERS
Artillery could be heard in the distance, towards Bagmouth, the heart of the fighting.
The blast scattered debris and glass outside the building and blew out windows of a nearby building and hospital.
Olena, who lives in Chasiv Yar, stepped outside to buy food for her three dogs when cannon fire rang out in the distance toward Bagmouth, the center of the fighting.
“When it’s too difficult, we leave the city,” he told AFP. “I have three dogs. I would leave if someone wanted to take them, but no one did.
In this case, the US and Germany plan to take a “new standard step” in supplying weapons to Ukraine.
According to several media, Berlin wants to offer armored infantry fighting vehicles of the “Mortar” type.
