Putin orders 36 hour cease-fire in Ukraine for Orthodox Christmas

According to the note from the Russian Presidency, the decision of the head of state is in response to the appeal from the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill, to establish a Christmas truce, which Orthodox believers celebrate on January 7th.

“Due to the fact that a large number of Orthodox citizens live in the military action zones, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a cease-fire regime to allow them to go to the temples on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day“, the official statement said.

Hours earlier, Kiril had asked for a truce so that the faithful could celebrate Christmas.

“I, Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus, appeal to all parties involved in the internecine conflict with an appeal to cease fire and establish a Christmas truce,” he said in his appeal, published on the IOR website.

The truce proposed by the religious leader to allow believers to go to temples on Christmas Eve and Christmas was to come into force at 12.00 Moscow time (09.00 GMT) tomorrow Friday and would run until 24.00 (21.00 GMT) on the 7th, the same deadline as the cease-fire ordered by Putin.

Putin’s first call for cease-fire

It is the first time that Russian president, Vladimir Putin has called a cease-fire on all fronts since he launched his military campaign in Ukraine on February 24th, 2022 with the aim of “denazifying and demilitarizing” the neighboring country

Kirill’s appeal was not well received in Kiev: “The IOR statement on a ‘Christmas truce’ is a cynical trap and an element of propaganda“, wrote the adviser to the Ukrainian presidency Mikhail Podolyak on Twitter.

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