The Russian-declared truce in the nearly 11-month war began on Friday night NZ time, and is due to continue to 10am Sunday morning NZ time.
Air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv about 40 minutes after the Russian ceasefire was to come into effect, but no explosions were heard. The widely used Alerts in Ukraine app, which includes information from emergency services, showed sirens blaring all across the country.
The Russian military alleged that Ukrainian forces continued to shell its positions despite the truce that Kyiv never agreed to. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces returned fire to suppress the attacks, although it wasn’t entirely clear from the statement whether the attacks and the return of fire took place before or after the cease-fire took effect.
Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov reported multiple attacks in the eastern Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions. It was not possible to verify the claims.
Putin’s announcement on Thursday that the Kremlin’s troops would stop fighting along the more than 1000km front line and elsewhere was unexpected. It came after the Russian Orthodox Church head, Patriarch Kirill, proposed a ceasefire for this weekend’s Orthodox Christmas holiday. The Orthodox Church, which uses the Julian calendar, celebrates Christmas on January 7.
But Ukrainian and Western officials suspected an ulterior motive in Putin’s apparent goodwill gesture.
They portrayed the announcement as an attempt by Putin to grab the moral high ground while possibly seeking to snatch the battlefield initiative and rob the Ukrainians of momentum amid their counteroffensive of recent months.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy questioned the Kremlin’s intentions, accusing the Kremlin of planning the fighting pause “to continue the war with renewed vigour”.
“Now they want to use Christmas as a cover to stop the advance of our guys in the [eastern] Donbas [region] for a while and bring equipment, ammunition and mobilised people closer to our positions,” Zelenskyy said.
He didn’t, however, state outright that Kyiv would ignore Putin’s request.
US President Joe Biden echoed Zelenskyy’s wariness, saying it was “interesting” that Putin was ready to bomb hospitals, nurseries and churches on Christmas and New Year’s.
“I think [Putin] is trying to find some oxygen,” Biden said, without elaborating.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington had “little faith in the intentions behind this announcement”, adding that Kremlin officials “have given us no reason to take anything that they offer at face value”.
The truce order seems to be a ploy “to rest, refit, regroup, and ultimately reattack”, he said.
The Institute for the Study of War agreed the truce could be a ruse allowing Russia to regroup.
“Such a pause would disproportionately benefit Russian troops and begin to deprive Ukraine of the initiative,” the think tank said. “Putin cannot reasonably expect Ukraine to meet the terms of this suddenly declared ceasefire, and may have called for the ceasefire to frame Ukraine as unaccommodating and unwilling to take the necessary steps toward negotiations.”
Washington says it’s prepared to keep backing Ukraine’s war effort.
Today the US is due to announce nearly US$3 billion (NZ$4.7b) in military aid for Ukraine — a major new package that is expected for the first time to include several dozen Bradley fighting vehicles.
Germany also plans to send armoured personnel carriers by the end of March.
The ill-feeling between the warring sides showed no signs of abating, despite the backdrop of Christmas.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, said those who rejected Putin’s proposal for a Christmas truce were “clowns” and “pigs”.
“The hand of Christian mercy was extended to the Ukrainians,” he said in a Telegram post. “But pigs have no faith and no innate sense of gratitude.”
Some civilians on the streets of Kyiv said they spoke from bitter experience in doubting Russia’s motives.
“Everybody is preparing [for an attack], because everybody remembers what happened on the new year when there were around 40 Shahed [Iranian drones],” local resident Vasyl Kuzmenko said. “But everything is possible.”
At the Vatican, Pope Francis said he was sending wishes from his heart “to the Eastern churches, both the Catholic and the Orthodox ones, that tomorrow will celebrate the birth of the Lord”.
Speaking to thousands of faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square for the church Epiphany feast day, Francis said: “In a special way, I would like my wish to reach the brothers and sisters of martyred Ukraine. May the birth of the Savior infuse comfort, infuse hope and inspire concrete steps that can finally bring an end to the fighting and inspire peace.”
The deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office Kyrylo Tymoshenko reported on Friday that nine civilians were killed and a further 11 wounded in Russian attacks on Thursday.
Citing data from regional officials, Tymoshenko stated that one civilian died and three were wounded in the country’s eastern Donetsk province, where Russia has launched a grinding offensive, while one was wounded in the neighbouring northeastern Kharkiv province.
Six dead and four wounded were reported following attacks in the southern Kherson province, together with two dead and three wounded in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia province. - AP
