Russia proposes 36-hour ceasefire for Orthodox Christmas, Kyiv rejects truce

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine after the Orthodox Church called for a Christmas truce.  

Putin instructed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine to hold their fire from noon on Friday until midnight on Saturday, according to a statement from the Kremlin. 

The order comes after the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church requested that both countries observe a truce over their Christmas Holiday, which is celebrated in January, according to the Julian calendar. 

“Given the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation to introduce a ceasefire,” Putin said.

According to Russia’s president, the ceasefire would allow those “professing orthodoxy… to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on the Day of the Nativity of Christ.”

Putin asked Ukraine to reciprocate. Ukraine, however, has rejected Russia’s ceasefire. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the truce was an attempt to stop Kyiv's military advances in the eastern Donbas region. 

"They want to use Christmas as a cover to stop the advance of our boys in Donbas, at least for a while, and bring equipment, ammunition, and conscripts closer to our positions," the president said. 

"What will that give them? Only yet another increase in their total losses," he added.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Zelensky, called the truce a “hypocrisy.”

“Ukraine doesn’t attack foreign territory & doesn’t kill civilians,” adding that Russia “must leave the occupied territories — only then will it have a ‘temporary truce.’” 

The secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defense council, Oleksiy Danilov, accused Moscow of “hiding behind a Christian holiday.”

“There is a simple solution: they pick up their suitcases, pick up their trash and go to Russia. That’s it,” he added.