Putin instructed the Russian army to cease fire in Ukraine for Christmas - supposedly for believers to go to church

The Office of Zelensky was reacted with the words "leave the hypocrisy for yourself"

Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu to declare a ceasefire in Ukraine - for 36 hours . According to Putin, Russian troops should cease to fire at Orthodox Christmas, from 12:00 on January 6 to 24:00 on January 7, 2023 (Moscow time). The ceasefire should act “along the entire line of combat contact of the parties” in Ukraine.

Putin also called on Kyiv to temporarily cease to fire. “Based on the fact that a large number of citizens professing Orthodoxy live in the regions of the fighting, we urge the Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire and give them the opportunity to visit the services to the Christmas Christmas Eve, as well as on the Day of the Nativity of Christ,” the Russian president said.

Declaring the ceasefire, Putin referred to the request of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church (Russian Orthodox Church) Patriarch Kirill. On January 5, he called on “all parties involved in the internecine conflict” to end fire and declare a truce from 12:00 on January 6 to 24:00 on January 7, so that the Orthodox believers can visit Christmas services.

Earlier, in mid-December, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that the issue of New Year's or Christmas ceasefire with Ukraine is not discussed. “No, no proposals were received from anyone, and there is no such topic on the agenda,” he said then to reporters.

In the office of the President of Ukraine, the call of Patriarch Kirill was called "a cynical trap and an element of propaganda." “The Russian Orthodox Church is not an authority for global Orthodoxy and acts only as a propagandist of war. The Russian Orthodox Church called for Ukrainians genocide, encouraged mass killings and insists on even greater militarization of Russia. Therefore, the statement of the Russian Orthodox Church about the “Christmas truce” is a cynical trap and an element of propaganda, ”wrote Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

Putin’s proposal to cease fire in Zelensky’s office answered the words “leave the hypocrisy for yourself”. The actions of the President of the Russian Federation again commented on the Podolyak: “The first. Ukraine does not attack someone else's territory and does not kill the civilian population, as Russia does. Ukraine destroys exclusively members of the occupation army on its territory. Second. Russia should leave the occupied territories - only then will it begin to “temporary truce”. Leave the hypocrisy for yourself ... ". Personally, the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky Putin has not yet commented on.

Updated . Ukraine will not negotiate with the Russian Federation on the Christmas Earth, said the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (National Security and Defense Council) of Ukraine Alexei Danilov. “Let's speak practical. To whom do they offer this truce? Yourself? " - said Danilov, offering the Russian troops a “simple decision” - “take away suitcases” and go home. “No negotiations with them ... This pop came up with some date. It has nothing to do with us. This is our land. We will do what we consider to be necessary on our land, ”he added.

By announcing a one -way truce, Putin is trying to achieve a respite, said US President Joe Biden . At the request of journalists to comment on Putin’s initiative, he noted that Russia continued to bomb Ukrainian “hospitals, kindergartens and churches” and on Catholic Christmas and New Year. “I think he [Putin] is trying to take a sip of air,” the American president added.

This is the first announcement of the ceasefire along the entire front line from the date of the full -scale invasion of Russia to Ukraine . Putin made him shortly after negotiations with the Turkish leader Recep Erdogan. He, according to the Anadolu Turkish Agency, said that " calls for peace and dialogue should be supported by one -way cessation of hostilities and a fair settlement of disagreements." According to the Kremlin, Putin confirmed to Erdogan his commitment to the dialogue - "subject to the fulfillment of the Kiev authorities of well -known and repeatedly voiced requirements and accounting for new territorial realities."

Whether the Russian army will observe the ceasefire, if Ukraine refuses, is unknown . It is also not known whether, if this regime is observed, to apply to Wagner's PMC , which is currently conducting an attack on the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region and the neighboring Soledar: Putin’s order is addressed to the Ministry of Defense, which is not subordinate to the PMC (at least formally).

Updated . The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that Putin’s order would introduce a ceasefire regime for Christmas. At the same time, the head of the self -proclaimed DPR Denis Pushilin said that we are only talking about the termination of “initiative fire”. “The decision concerns the cessation of initiative fire or offensive actions on our part. But this does not mean that we will not respond to the enemy provocation! " He emphasized.

Russian wire-telegram channels criticized the initiative about the ceasefire , the publication "Agency" paid attention . The telegram channel "Rybar", which has more than a million subscribers, wrote "Maybe there is enough to throw beads in front of pigs? They will not be appreciated anyway. ” Yuri Kotenok and Roman Saponkov noted that the ceasefire mode is one -sided, it will not be observed (according to Saponkov) and looks like “amazing” (according to the kitten). The Channel “Military Inverse”, which has been signed by more than 500 thousand users of Telecram, connected the announcement of the ceasefire with the conversation of Putin and Erdogan: “Apparently, the proposal from the respected and purely neutral partner of Erdogan was too tempting, so as not to conduct another gesture of goodwill.”