Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered a 36-hour ceasefire on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas after Patriarch Kirill, the top representative of the Orthodox Church, requested it.
«Taking into account the request of Patriarch Kirill, I urge Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to implement a cease-fire on the entire front line on January 6 from 12.00 (local time),» the Kremlin said in a statement.
Thus, Putin stipulated that the truce will remain in force until 00.00 on January 8 and pointed out that the measure was taken «taking into account the large number of citizens professing the Orthodox religion and living in the combat zones».
«We call on the Ukrainian authorities to declare a ceasefire and allow them to attend celebrations on the occasion of Christmas,» which according to Orthodox tradition is celebrated on January 7.
Hours earlier, Patriarch Kirill called on «all parties involved in the conflict to maintain a ceasefire and establish a truce for Christmas from 12 noon on January 6 until midnight on January 7 so that the Orthodox population can attend Mass on Christmas Eve and the day of the birth of Jesus Christ,» as he noted on the website of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The announcement, however, has been branded as a «propagandistic element» as well as a «cynical trap» by the advisor to the Presidency of Ukraine, Mikhail Podoliak, on his profile on the social network Twitter.
«The Russian Orthodox Church is not an authority for global Orthodoxy and acts only as a ‘war propagandist’. The Russian Orthodox Church has called for the genocide of Ukrainians, encouraged mass killings and insists on even greater militarization of Russia,» Podoliak denounced.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
