Despite the ceasefire announced by Russia, there is no holiday peace around Orthodox Christmas in Ukraine. The Kiev government said on Friday that Ukrainian soldiers had launched attacks against the occupiers, particularly in the eastern Donetsk region. According to Moscow, attacked Russian troops also returned fire.
“This is how they congratulate the occupiers on the coming Christmas!” said the Defense Ministry in Kiev about the attacks by its own troops. In the small town of Bakhmut, Russian positions were shelled with 120 millimeter mortar shells as a “gift”. “The resistance will continue until the last Russian invader on Ukrainian territory is killed,” the statement from Kiev said.
The ceasefire announced unilaterally by Russian President Vladimir Putin as of Friday afternoon Moscow time (10 a.m. CET) would have been the first ceasefire along the entire frontline since the start of Russia’s offensive war on 24 February last year. Despite the ceasefire, the air raid siren was in effect for about two hours on Friday for all of Ukraine. According to media reports, this was prompted by several Russian aircraft that had climbed over neighboring Belarus, fueling fears of new attacks.
Kiev sees ‘hypocrisy’ in ceasefire
The Russian army, in turn, accused the Ukrainian side of attacking. Although the Russian army is sticking to the ceasefire, Ukraine has continued to fire artillery on cities and positions, army spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow. Accordingly, there were battles on three front sections. In the north near the town of Lyman, the Ukrainian army fired with grenade launchers, a little further south near the village of Bilohorivka in the Luhansk region with artillery. There was also artillery fire on Russian positions in the south of the Donetsk region. The Russian troops returned fire. “During the return fire, the positions of the Ukrainian forces from which the shots were fired were pinned down,” Konashenkov said.
Putin announced a Christmas ceasefire on Thursday at the request of Moscow’s patriarch Kirill. Due to the Christmas party, it should be valid until midnight from Saturday to Sunday. The Orthodox Churches in Russia and Ukraine traditionally celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on January 7 according to the Julian calendar. However, Kiev rejects the ceasefire as “hypocrisy”. It only serves the Russian military to redeploy its troops. During the Orthodox Easter celebrations last April, Moscow rejected a ceasefire for similar reasons.
Source: Krone
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