Russian President Vladimir Putin recently ordered a 36-hour ceasefire to allow the peaceful celebration of Orthodox Christmas, a move that Kyiv has called hypocritical and has firmly rejected.
The order was announced on Friday to observe the Russian holiday but Ukrainian officials said that they had no intention of stopping the fight. The latter rejected the purported truce as a stunt by Moscow to give their military troops some time after taking heavy losses this week amid the conflict.
Russia's 36-Hour Ceasefire Order
In a statement, a Ukrainian soldier, who used the nom de guerre Vyshnya, said, "What ceasefire? Can you hear? What do they want to achieve if they keep on shooting? We know, we have learnt no to trust them."
On the other hand, Russia's Defense Ministry said that its military personnel has begun observing the ceasefire from noon Moscow time "along the entire line of contact." It argued that Ukrainian forces continued to shell populated areas and military positions.
There were explosions reported that Ukrainian troops at the front lines described as incoming Russian rocket fire that prompted them to fire back from tanks. Kyiv's military personnel added that it was quieter than most days because of the snowy weather that made it difficult to fly drones and spot targets from a distance, as per Reuters.
One Ukrainian soldier said that the situation they were in was the same as yesterday, last week, and last month. They added that there was no point in trying to talk to Moscow or their troops or believing in their promises, orders, and decrees.
Despite Putin's order of a ceasefire, there were no immediate reports of the potential reduction in the intensity of fighting in other regions. One witness, who was in the Russian-occupied regional capital Donetsk, said that outgoing artillery fired from pro-Russian positions on the outskirts of the city following the truce was still happening.
In a statement, Serhiy Haidai, the Ukrainian governor of the front line in the eastern Luhansk province, said that in the first three hours after the ceasefire order, Russia already shelled Ukrainian positions 14 times and stormed one settlement three times.
Celebrating Orthodox Christmas
According to BBC, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Putin's order was simply an attempt to stop his troops from advancing in the eastern parts of the country. A statement from the Kremlin also appeared to stress that Putin wanted his troops to stop fighting not because he was de-escalating.
Instead, the Russian president had listened to an appeal from the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill. The latter had, earlier in the day of the announcement, called for a Christmas truce to allow worshippers to attend services for the holiday.
The situation comes as France announced that it was giving Ukraine light tanks, AMX-10 RCs, and Bastion armored personnel carriers. On the other hand, the United States said it would provide Kyiv with Bradley Fighting Vehicles. However, the two still falls short of the modern, heavy tanks that Ukrainian authorities have been requesting, CNBC reported.
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