Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to the Ukrainian President, described, on Thursday, the unilateral temporary truce declared by Russia on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas on January 6 and 7 as “hypocrisy.”
Podolyak wrote, in a tweet, “First… Ukraine does not attack foreign lands, nor does it kill civilians as the Russian forces do… Ukraine only destroys the forces of the occupation army on its soil.”
The Ukrainian chancellor called on Russia to “leave the occupied territories,” saying: “Only then will there be a temporary truce… keep the hypocrisy to yourselves.”
Hours ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Ministry of Defense to cease fire in Ukraine, starting at 12:00 noon tomorrow, Friday, for a period of 36 hours.
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A statement from the Kremlin said that Putin had ordered the Defense Ministry to cease fire in Ukraine due to the Orthodox Christmas period.
He indicated that the ceasefire will be implemented for a period of 36 hours, starting at 12:00 noon on Friday, corresponding to January 6.
Russia called on the Ukrainian side, in a statement, to declare a truce as well, to give the Orthodox an opportunity to perform Christmas rituals.
Earlier Thursday, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, called for a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Christmas period, which runs from January 6-7.
