By KYIV. Jan 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to impose a temporary ceasefire, the Russian president’s press service said on Thursday.
The document also calls on the Ukrainian side to announce a ceasefire and enable Orthodox believers to attend services on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day.
Earlier on Thursday, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia called for a Christmas truce in the special military operation zone.
In turn, Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said the statement of Patriarch Kirill about the "Christmas truce" was a cynical trap and an element of propaganda, since the Russian Orthodox Church previously called for the genocide of Ukrainians and encouraged massacres.
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov said in an interview with Channel 24 on Thursday that Ukraine will do on its land whatever it considers necessary.
"They are hiding behind some Christian holidays. They have nothing to do with it. Where is the religion and where are the priests? What a crazy country it is," he said.
