Vladimir Putin ordered a ceasefire in Ukraine on January 6 and 7. The news comes on the eve of Orthodox Christmas following Russian spiritual leader Patriarch Kirill’s request.
Putin orders ceasefire in the war against Ukraine
Putin ordered a ceasefire to the war on January 6 and 7. As per reports, the decision comes following the request of Patriarch Kirill, a Russian spiritual leader. “Taking into account the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the defense minister of the Russian Federation to introduce from 12:00 (0900 GMT) on January 6, 2023, until 24:00 (2100 GMT) on January 7, 2023, a ceasefire along the entire line of contact between the sides in Ukraine,” stated the Kremlin.
“Proceeding from the fact that a large number of citizens professing Orthodoxy live in the areas of hostilities, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire and allow them to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on Christmas Day,” he added. However, there was no immediate response from the Ukrainian side. Additionally, on Thursday it rejected a call from the head of Russia’s Orthodox Church for a truce, calling it a “cynical trap”.
Ukrainian official slams truce proposal as a ‘hypocrisy’
Mykhailo Podolyak, one of the political advisers to President Zelensky slammed Putin’s latest order. Additionally, he is accusing him of “hypocrisy” for calling on Ukraine to declare a truce. “First. Ukraine doesn’t attack foreign territory & doesn’t kill civilians. As the Russian Federation does. Ukraine destroys only members of the occupation army on its territory. Second. RF must leave the occupied territories – only then will it have a ‘temporary truce’. Keep hypocrisy to yourself,” tweeted Podolyak