Ukraine-Russia war news latest: Putin orders temporary ceasefire for Orthodox Christmas

Vladimir Putin has offered Ukraine a 36-hour ceasefire in the war to allow people to attend services on Orthodox Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the Kremlin has said.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, had earlier suggested a truce from 12pm on Friday until 12am on Sunday.

“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 12pm on 6 January 2023 to midnight on 7 January 2023,” Mr Putin said, according to the Kremlin.

“Proceeding from the fact that a large number of citizens professing Orthodoxy live in the areas of hostilities, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire and allow them to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on Christmas Day,” he added.

There was no immediate response from Ukraine to the order. However, in the wake of Patriarch Kirill’s suggestion, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak dismissed called it “a cynical trap and an element of propaganda”.

President Putin’s ceasefire offer is a sign that he and his army are getting weaker, according to a Ukrainian adviser to the minister of internal affairs.

Anton Gerashchenko said Mr Putin ordered Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu to introduce the ceasefire from tomorrow.

Mr Putin “wants to use any pause in the destruction of his soldiers and equipment”, he said, but any truce or ceasefire was only possible after Russia left Ukrainian territory completely, including Crimea.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has warned the United States that hypersonic missiles would soon be close to Nato’s shores after the US embassy said in a video it stood in solidarity with Russians who opposed the war in Ukraine.

“The main gift for the New Year with an ammunition package of Zircon missiles left yesterday for the shores of Nato countries,” Medvedev said, referring to President Vladimir Putin’s deployment of a warship with hypersonic cruise missiles to the Atlantic.

Medvedev said the missiles could be placed 100 miles off the US coast, adding: “So rejoice! It will bring to their senses anyone who poses a direct threat to Russia and our allies.”

The US embassy to Russia released a video that it called an “an appeal to the people of Russia”. The 50-second video included images of the impact of bombing in Ukraine, saying what was happening there “is not worthy of you”.

“We stand in solidarity with each of you who are striving to create a more peaceful future,” the video said, showing the slogan “No to war” in Russian sprayed on a wall.

“Throughout history, our countries have been united by the commonality of cultures and our achievements,” the video said, adding that Russia and the United States had “competed and collaborated” for decades.

The video showed images of Soviet cosmonauts, writers such as Fyodor Dostoevsky and leaders such as Leonid Brezhnev, Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. Putin was not included.

Medvedev, a close Putin ally, lashed out at the video, describing the U.S. government as cynical “freaks” and “sons of bitches” who he said were using the tricks of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.

The background to the timing of President Putin’s “offer” is that the Russian Orthodox Church, which uses the ancient Julian calendar, celebrates Christmas on 7 January – later than the Gregorian calendar – although some Christians in Ukraine also mark the holiday on that date.

A senior Ukrainian official has dismissed a 36-hour ceasefire proposal by Vladimir Putin as hypocrisy, saying a “temporary truce” would be possible only when Russia leaves territory it is occupying in Ukraine.

“The Russian Federation must leave the occupied territories – only then will it have a ‘temporary truce’. Keep hypocrisy to yourself,” presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

Following today’s diplomatic efforts by Turkish President Erdogan, the Kremlin has renewed its support for a peace settlement in Ukraine which accepts “new territorial realities”.

In a statement, the Kremlin said following today’s phone call with Erdogan, “Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Russia’s openness to serious dialogue, provided that the Kyiv authorities comply with the well-known and repeatedly voiced demands.”

President Zelensky’s presidential adviser tweeted earlier that any such peace deal which did not reflect Ukrainian ‘territorial sovereignty’ was not acceptable.

In a phone call on Thursday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Turkey was ready to take on mediation and moderation duties to secure a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine.

A readout from Erdogan’s office said Turkey also offered diplomatic support to Ukraine regarding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station.

Turkey previously acted as mediator alongside the United Nations to set up a deal allowing grain exports from Ukrainian ports.

The news comes following President Erdogan’s phone call earlier today with President Putin, reiterating Turkey’s support for a peace deal between the nations.

Read more on the grain exports deal here:

The ongoing battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut has left 60% of the city in ruins, Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Thursday.

Ukrainian armed forces were holding the Russians back but the Kremlin’s forces have continued a campaign of relentless artillery shelling.

Bakhmut is situated in the eastern Donbas region and is a strategic industrial area bordering Russia. Taking the city would give Putin a major battlefield advancement after months of military setbacks.

Its capture would also rupture Ukraine’s supply lines and open the way for Moscow’s forces to press on toward key Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk.

Shelling in the region, as reported earlier, is targeting infrastructure, residential and military targets, despite Russia denying any responsibility for civlian targets.

A senior Ukrainian official has poured cold water on prospects of peace talks following reports of Putin’s phone call with Turkey’s President Erdogan earlier today.

Writing on Twitter, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter, “Axiom: why will it be impossible to make a deal with the Russian Federation?”

“The Russian Federation (Putin) under the word ‘talks’ offers Ukraine & the world to recognize ‘its right to seize foreign territories’ & ‘to fix the absence of legal consequences for mass killings on foreign territory’. It’s fully unacceptable.”