The ceasefire that wasn't
History did not repeat itself this Christmas
President Vladimir Putin ordered a 36 hour ceasefire last January 5th. The reason for this was the celebration of the Orthodox Christmas, responding to a petition of Patriarch Kirill. Ukraine dismissed the appeal, and stated that a ceasefire could only take place if Russia withdrew from occupied territories. The ceasefire would have lasted from January 6th, 12:00, to the next day, January 7th, at 00:00, and is scheduled in Moscow time.
The statement from the Kremlin declared that Putin ordered to stop fighting not because of de-escalation, but because of Patriarch Kirill asked him to. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also asked for a ceasefire.
Taking into account the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation to introduce a ceasefire regime along the entire line of contact of the parties in Ukraine from 12:00 on January 6th, 2023, to 24:00, January 7, 2023”, Putin declared.
“Proceeding from the fact that a large number professing Orthodoxy live in areas of hostilities, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare and allow them to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on Christmas Day”,
he added.
Meanwhile, on the Ukrainian side calls for ceasefire were dismissed. President Volodymir Zelensky denounced that Russia wanted to use the truce as a cover to “stop their advance in the Donbass”.
“Everyone in the world knows how the Kremlin lulls in the war to continue the war with new force”,
Similar reactions came from his aides. One of them, Mykhailo Podolyak, described the statement of the Russian Orthodox Church about the Christmas truce as a “cynical trap and an element of propaganda”. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, accused Russia of dismissing President Zelensky’s proposals for peace. He mentioned as examples the shelling of Kherson on December 24th and the strikes on New Year’s of Moscow’s lack of interest for peace. Ukraine did not state it would pause the fighting. The ceasefire has been described as a move by Moscow to gain favor in the eyes of the public.
However, the calls for ceasefire fell on deaf ears of both sides. For example, air sirens sounded on Kyiv for about an hour, although there were no explosions. Ukrainian officials also reported Russian attacks on Friday. Russian forces also struck Ukraine’s second largest city, Kramatorsk. According to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, rockets struck the city twice. He also accused Moscow of striking Kherson.
Mercenaries from the Wagner Group also moved into the city of Soledar. Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Ukraine-associated Donestk Regional Defense, said that Russia violated the ceasefire by attacking Kurahave. Russia and Ukraine also exchanged artillery strikes on Bakhmut. AFP reporters claiming to be present there mentioned hearing outgoing and incoming shelling at the time the ceasefire had begun. Russian media reported shelling attacks by Ukrainian forces after the ceasefire. On their side, Ukrainian forces struck Russian held territory in Donestk with artillery at least three times after the ceasefire.
The Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar, and celebrates Christmas on January 7th. However, as a gesture of rejection against Moscow, many Ukrainian Orthodox parishioners have begun to celebrate it on December 25th. Both days are considered public holidays on Ukraine. There was a Church split in 2018 within the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, whose own leaders have been accused of collaboration with Russia.
The Russian Orthodox Church is the largest within the Eastern Orthodox family.
Former President and current deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, described those who rejected the truce as “clowns and pigs”.
“The hand of Christian mercy was extended to the Ukrainians. But pigs have no faith and no innate sense of gratitude”,
he said on a Telegram post.
President Joe Biden described the ceasefire order as an effort from Putin to find breathing room for his war effort.
“He was ready to bomb hospitals and nurseries and churches”
on December 25th and New Year’s Day, President Biden said.
“I think he is trying to find some oxygen”,
he added.
Guillermo is a journalist, writer and independent international analyst. If you like what you read, please support him by donating:
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