The Russian army assured Saturday, January 7 that it intended to continue to observe until the end of the day the unilateral ceasefire decreed by Vladimir Putin on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas, despite Ukrainian artillery fire.
“Despite the artillery fire of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on populated areas and Russian positions, the implementation of the announced ceasefire regime will be continued by Russian troops for up to 24 hours” (10 p.m. Paris time), the Russian Defense Ministry said in its daily report.
The Russian army claimed to have repelled attacks or responded to Ukrainian fire in several places on the front, inflicting casualties on its adversary.
Shots from both sides, but of less intensity
Ukraine questions the sincerity of the Russian truce, saying it is a ruse to buy time. Washington, Paris, London, Berlin and the EU lambasted the initiative.
Journalists present in Chassiv Iar, in eastern Ukraine, observed sustained bombardments throughout the morning.
In Bakhmout, the epicenter of the fighting further north, AFP had already heard artillery duels on both sides of the front on Friday, in the hours following the establishment of the unilateral ceasefire by Russia. . However, these shots were of less intensity compared to the previous days.
According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office, two people were killed and 13 injured in Bakhmut on Friday, in a city largely destroyed by fighting and where both sides face heavy losses.
According to Ukrainian authorities, Russian troops also shelled the Kherson region (south) on Friday, killing a rescue worker and injuring seven other people.
One Orthodox Christmas, but two churches
The two countries, at war since February 2022, celebrated the Orthodox Christmas holiday on Saturday, the majority faith in Russia and Ukraine.
On the Russian side, Vladimir Putin attended a religious service alone in a Kremlin church at midnight on Friday, departing from his habit of attending the liturgy in the provinces or on the outskirts of Moscow. In a message released by the Kremlin on Saturday, the Russian president sent his congratulations to Orthodox Christians, saying that this day inspires “good deeds and aspirations”. Church organizations “support our soldiers who are participating in a special military operation”said the Russian president, using the official Kremlin term for the offensive in Ukraine.
On the Ukrainian side, hundreds of faithful attended a historic liturgy on Saturday in the famous monastery of the Lavra of the Caves of kyiv, formerly under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate but passed in December into the bosom of the Independent Ukrainian Church. The service was led for the first time by Metropolitan Epiphany, the head of this Church formed in 2018-2019 after a schism with the Moscow Patriarchate.
“We have waited a long time for this sanctuary to be handed over to us. This is a truly historic event, which all Ukrainians have been waiting for”Veronika Martyniouk, 19, who directs the choir, told AFP.
“Each country has its Church. And we have our own Church – that’s very good, a Ukrainian Church, that’s how it should be”abounded Oksana Sobko, 47, a faithful.
Deliveries of armored vehicles to Ukraine
Even if it had been respected, the ceasefire decreed by Vladimir Putin would have offered only 36 hours of respite in a conflict of great intensity, which has lasted for almost 11 months and whose settlement does not seem to have made progress. .
The United States, kyiv’s main backer, on Friday pledged a massive $3 billion in new military aid to Ukraine, which will include the supply of Bradley armored infantry vehicles, personnel carriers and howitzers.
“This victorious year has only just begun”welcomed the Ukrainian presidency, stating that the ” pack “ American also includes HIMARS precision missiles and anti-aircraft Sea Sparrow.
This announcement followed that of Germany, which indicated that it would send 40 armored vehicles in the first quarter. “Marder”following in the footsteps of France, which on Wednesday announced an upcoming delivery of AMX-10 RC light battle tanks.
Western arms supplies are crucial for kyiv and have notably enabled it to carry out an effective counter-offensive which has driven Russian forces from the Kharkiv region in the northeast and from the city of Kherson in the south.
With winter, the front is largely frozen. Ukraine, however, said it feared a new Russian offensive.
