The Russian army, located in the special operations zone in Ukraine, is observing the ceasefire along the entire line of contact. This was stated during a briefing by the official representative of the Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov.
“The joint group of Russian troops in the field of special military operations has been observing the ceasefire along the entire line of contact since January 6 at 12:00 Moscow time. At the same time, the Kyiv regime continued to bomb settlements and Russian positions throughout the past day.”
The Defense Ministry also said that despite the bombardment, the Russian side will continue to implement the ceasefire regime until midnight.
The ministry reported that in the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian army has fired more than 60 large-caliber shells at the residential areas of Donetsk alone. The satellite city of Donetsk – Makiivka – was attacked by the American MLRS HIMARS.
According to the defense ministry, the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Krasnolimansky direction fired 11 times from mortars at Russian positions. Russian soldiers were bombarded 51 times a day in the Soledar, Avdeevsky and Maryinsky directions.
In the Zaporozhye region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine opened artillery fire 31 times. The enemy fired 17 artillery shells in the directions of Kherson and Krivoy Rog, ”the Russian Ministry of Defense said.
They added that the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, where the attacks were carried out, were suppressed with counterfire.
Patriarch Kirill proposed a ceasefire in the special operations zone for Christmas.
“I call on all parties involved in the internecine conflict to cease fires and establish a Christmas truce from 12:00 on 6 January to 24:00 on 7 January so that Orthodox people can attend services on Christmas Eve and at Christmas. The day of the Nativity of Jesus,” it said.
President Vladimir Putin accepted the patriarch’s initiative and instructed the head of the Ministry of Defense to declare a ceasefire along the front line for 36 hours.
“Based on the fact that a large number of citizens of Orthodox faith live in conflict zones, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire and give them the opportunity to attend mass on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,” Putin said. announced his decision.
Leonid Sevastyanov, President of the World Union of Old Believers (WBU), said he later met with Pope Francis, who also supported the idea of a Christmas truce. The Pope considered that hostilities in the NVO area should be suspended until January 20.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also rejected the Russian leadership’s proposal to cut the fire during Orthodox Christmas celebrations.
“Russia will not be able to quietly hide its preparations for a new wave of attacks against Ukraine and all of Europe,” he said on his Telegram channel.
The European Union said it did not trust the unilateral ceasefire declared by Russia. According to EU Foreign Service representative Peter Stano, Brussels wants Moscow to take concrete steps, especially the withdrawal of troops and equipment.
“The unilaterally declared temporary ceasefire does not change the fact that Russia illegally occupied part of Ukraine’s territory and engaged in illegitimate aggression in violation of the UN Charter and international law. “This seems like an attempt to buy time to replenish, regroup or restore their shattered international reputation,” Stano said.
US President Joe Biden tweeted that Moscow’s proposal was “interesting” but looked like an opportunity to “take a breather”.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Russian officials “give no reason to believe anything they propose” and suggested that the 36-hour break would allow the Russian armed forces to regroup.