Russia admits to having breached the unilateral ceasefire

The 36 hour ceasefire ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin has been short-lived. Putin had announced the decision to establish a christmas trucewhich Orthodox believers celebrate on January 7, but a few hours after it began, they reported that they had broken it to respond to the attacks in Ukraine.

This brief break in the offensive against Ukraine began at 12:00 Moscow time (10:00 Spanish time) this Friday along the entire front line in Ukraine, as reported by the Kremlin. “Since a large number of Orthodox citizens live in the zone of military actions, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire regime to allow him to go to the temples Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,” the official statement said.

From Ukraine the answer was clear: the “temporary truce” will come once Russia leaves the occupied territories. According to the Russian authorities, Ukraine would have attacked the city of Donetsk right at the start of the ceasefire and his troops would have responded.

In practice, fighting between the two sides has continued in Bakhmut. Russian mercenaries are not stopping either and kyiv also denounces constant bombardments in Kramatatorsk.

Neither Zelensky nor the EU believe this “hypocritical” truce

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky Russia’s intentions are not believed regarding the ceasefire and believes that They use Christmas “as a cover” to stop the advance of the Ukrainian army in Donbas while they bring equipment and ammunition closer to their positions.

“Now they want to use Christmas as a cover to at least briefly halt the advance of our guys in Donbas and bring equipment, ammunition and mobilized men closer to our positions. What will this bring? Just another rise in the death toll“, Zelensky denounced in his usual night speech. He also added that “everyone in the world knows how the Kremlin uses the stoppages in the war to continue the war with renewed vigor,” he said.

For Zelensky, the solution involves implementing the Peace Formula that Ukraine proposed to Russia and which provides for the withdrawal of the Russian occupation troops from the country. “This is a guaranteed and reliable way to cease fire, stop casualties and war in general,” he said.

Also from the European Union they describe this ceasefire as “false and hypocritical” and insist that the only way to bring peace is with the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

“There is an aggressor: the Kremlin. And a victim: the Ukrainian people. The withdrawal of Russian troops is the only serious option to restore peace and security,” said the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, adding that ” The announcement of a unilateral ceasefire is just as false and hypocritical as the grotesque, illegal annexations and accompanying referendums.”

NATO has recalled that it was Russia that started the war in Ukraine and that Russian President Vladimir Putin “can stop it today” by pulling his troops out of the country. In a statement, Alliance spokeswoman Oana Lungescu refers to the response to Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky’s announcement: “He has made Ukraine’s position clear on this self-proclaimed ceasefire. This war was started by Russia and President Putin can stop it today pulling his troops out of the Ukraine. Instead, we have seen Russian forces launch missile and drone attacks on cities and civilian infrastructure for many months,” Lungescu said.

The same way, the Pentagon has been skeptical before Putin’s announcement. “I think there is significant skepticism both here in the United States and around the world, given Russia’s long record of disinformation and propaganda,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said.

He assures that if Putin was really interested in a cessation of hostilities he should withdraw from Ukraine “immediately” and remarked: “Russia seems to be very good at exporting violence, it doesn’t seem to be that good at export the truth, so we’ll see.”