Despite Vladimir Putin's announcement of a ceasefire along the entire clash line in Ukraine over Christmas, Russian forces continued fighting on Friday. Laura Cooper, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, said this at a briefing at the Pentagon, Ukrinform reports .
The morning summary of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine says that over the past day, Russian troops launched one missile attack and made 20 attacks from multiple launch rocket systems.
On Thursday, Putin instructed Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to impose a 36-hour ceasefire along the entire line of contact on the occasion of Christmas and urged Ukraine to follow suit. In Ukraine, this was called hypocrisy and a trap, and President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was an attempt to use a religious holiday as a cover.
“The Russian Orthodox Church is not an authority for global Orthodoxy and acts only as a war propagandist,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine. – The ROC has called for the genocide of Ukrainians, encouraged massacres and insists on even greater militarization of Russia. Therefore, the statement of the ROC about the “Christmas truce” is a cynical trap and an element of propaganda.”