Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine to run during Orthodox Christmas, a move quickly dismissed by war-battered Kyiv and its allies.
Putin’s directive to his troops was announced days after Moscow suffered its deadliest reported loss of the invasion, and as Ukraine’s supporters pledged to send armoured vehicles and a second Patriot air defence battery to aid Kyiv.
Both nations celebrate Orthodox Christmas and the Russian leader’s order came following ceasefire calls from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia’s spiritual leader Patriarch Kirill, a staunch Putin supporter.
“Taking into account the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the defence minister of the Russian Federation to introduce… a ceasefire along the entire line of contact between the sides in Ukraine,” said a Kremlin statement.
It will run from midday Friday (0900 GMT), until the end of Saturday (2100 GMT), the Kremlin said.
Kyiv quickly denounced the move.
Russia “must leave the occupied territories — only then will it have a ‘temporary truce’,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter. “Keep hypocrisy to yourself.”
