Photo: EVGENIY MALOTETKA/AP/PICTURE ALLIANCE / Deutsche Welle
Ukrainians celebrated Orthodox Christmas under the onslaught of war, some in shelters, and the 36-hour Russian truce ended at midnight from Saturday to Sunday (local time) without fighting ceasing during the day.
The ceasefire, announced unilaterally by Russia, ended at 21:00 GMT.amid cross criticism from the Ukrainians to the Russians for not having respected it and from Moscow to kyiv for not having allowed it to be applied.
Zelensky: “Presumed ceasefire”
“The world was able to see again how misleading the statements of the high command in Moscow are,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message posted on social media.
Russia “talked about an alleged ceasefire, but actually bombed in Bakhmut (east of the country) and other Ukrainian positions,” Zelenski criticized.
Following President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of the ceasefire, the first since the start of the Russian offensive in February, the Ukrainian authorities questioned the sincerity of the truce and considered it a tactic to buy time.
The United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom also criticized the initiative.
AFP journalists present in Chasiv Yar, in eastern Ukraine, confirmed repeated shelling throughout the morning.
In Bakhmut, a hotspot located further north, AFP heard on Friday artillery exchanges on both sides of the fronthours after the unilateral ceasefire decreed by Russia was established.
However, the shots were of less intensity compared to previous days.
According to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office, two people were killed and 13 wounded on Friday in Bakhmut, a city largely devastated by fighting and where both sides are suffering heavy losses.
Russian armed forces also shelled the Kherson region (south) on Friday, killing a rescue worker and wounding seven people, Ukrainian authorities reported.
Putin attends mass alone
The two countries, at war since February 2022, Orthodox Christmas was celebrated on Saturdaythe religion professed by the majority of its citizens.
On the Russian side, Putin attended mass alone at a Kremlin church at midnight on Friday, breaking his habit of attending a public liturgy in a province or on the outskirts of Moscow.
In a message released this Saturday by the Kremlin, the Russian leader congratulated the Orthodox Christians and indicated that this day inspires “good deeds and aspirations.”
Church organizations “support our soldiers who are participating in a special military operation,” the Russian president declared, using the official Kremlin term for the offensive in Ukraine.
In kyiv, hundreds of faithful attended a historic mass this Saturday at the famous Monastery of the Caves, which previously depended on the Patriarchate of Moscow.
The homily was officiated for the first time by Epifanio, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church formed in 2018-2019 after a schism with the Moscow Patriarchate.
Zelensky expressed his happiness that so many people attended a mass on the day of an Orthodox Christmas that is “historic for Ukraine, for the religious independence of its people.”
“We have waited a long time for this sanctuary to be given to us. It is a truly historic event, which all Ukrainians have been waiting for,” Veronika Martiniuk, 19, who leads the choir, told AFP.
“Each country has its church. And we have our own church, that’s fine, a Ukrainian church, that’s how it should be,” added Oksana Sobko, a 47-year-old believer.
USA: $3 billion to Ukraine
The United States, the main supporter of the Ukrainian government, promised new $3 billion military aid to Ukraine on Fridaywhich will include Bradley armored infantry vehicles, armored personnel carriers and howitzers.
Germany will also send 40 “Marder” armored vehicles in the first quarter of the year and France on Wednesday promised AMX-10 RC light combat tanks.
The British government announced that it will organize a summit of justice ministers in March to discuss possible measures to support the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes in Ukraine.
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