Ukrainians and Russians celebrate Christmas while the bombing continues

Ukrainians and Russians are celebrating today, in the midst of war, the Christmas and hostilities continue in many parts of the front, despite a unilateral ceasefire announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which Kyiv and the West call “hypocritical”.

As yesterday, the Russian military assured that it intended to keep the ceasefire until midnight tonight and complained that Ukrainian forces were shelling positions of Russian soldiers, who were forced to retaliate.

Ukraine, for its part, questions the sincerity of this Russian truce, insisting that it is a ploy to buy time for Moscow.

The adviser to the Ukrainian presidency Mykhailo Podoliak once again rejected the truce today, calling it a “fraud”. “Russia invaded and killed Ukrainians for 11 months, resenting us for resisting. Russia unilaterally announces a bogus ceasefire across the front line but still protests: why doesn’t Ukraine support our bogus proposal?’ he wrote on Twitter.

Journalists in Chasiv Yar, eastern Ukraine, said they heard shelling and fighter jets flying over the area. The townspeople organized the Christmas service in a basement, declaring that in Christ they see a symbol of courage. Almost all the church’s worshipers and choristers have left Chasiv Yar for safer areas, and only nine people attended this service, in the basement of a building partially collapsed by a shelling last November.

“Christ was born in a cave. And we are in a cave”, priest Oleg Kruchinin said to the few faithful who remained, pointing to the area, with its exposed electrical cables and pipes, lit by a lamp. “This is of particular importance: do not lose heart, do not give up…” he continued.

Chasiv Yar is about 10 kilometers east of the city of Bahmut, and residents have been living under the constant threat of shelling for several weeks. AFP journalists said on Friday they heard gunfire on both sides of the front on Friday, after the unilateral ceasefire began.

According to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office, two people were killed and 13 wounded in Bakhmut on Friday while Russian forces also shelled the Kherson region, killing one rescuer and injuring seven others.

Putin celebrated alone in the Kremlin

On the Russian side, Putin attended a service alone at the Kremlin chapel at midnight on Friday, although in previous years he used to celebrate with a crowd of worshipers at a church in the countryside or on the outskirts of Moscow. In his message released today by the Kremlin, he addressed his wishes to Orthodox Christians. Church institutions “support our soldiers” fighting in Ukraine, he said.

In Ukraine, hundreds of worshipers gathered today for the historic service at the famous Lavra of the Caves monastery in Kyiv, which until recently was under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate but is now controlled by the independent Ukrainian Church. For the first time, Metropolitan Epiphanios, the head of this church that severed its relations with the Moscow Patriarchate, officiated at the service.

“We have waited a long time for this sacred space to be handed over to us. It is truly a historic event that all Ukrainians have been waiting for,” said 19-year-old Veronika Martyniuk.

Even if fully respected, Putin’s truce would offer only 36 hours of respite in a war that has lasted nearly 11 months and has no end in sight.

The US, a key ally and supporter of Kiev, on Friday pledged a new $3 billion military aid package that will also include Bradley armored vehicles, Himars missile systems and Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles. It was preceded, a few hours earlier, by Germany’s announcement that within the first quarter of the year it would deliver 40 Marder armored vehicles to Ukraine, while France said on Wednesday that it would provide AMX-10 RC light tanks.

Deliveries of Western weapons systems are critical for Kyiv since they allowed it to effectively counterattack and drive Russian troops out of the Kharkiv region in the northeast and the city of Kherson in the south. With the arrival of winter, the front appears to have frozen over its longest length. Ukraine, which says it wants to take back all its territory from Russia, says it fears an imminent, new Russian attack.

RES-EMP

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