Russia-Ukraine updates: Ukraine slams Putin’s Christmas ceasefire

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia was seeking a truce to use as a cover to stop Ukrainian advances in the eastern Donbas region and bring in more men and equipment.

“They now want to use Christmas as a cover, albeit briefly, to stop the advances of our boys in Donbas and bring equipment, ammunitions and mobilised troops closer to our positions,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address, speaking pointedly in Russian rather than Ukrainian.

“What will that give them? Only yet another increase in their total losses.”

Zelenskyy said the war “will end either when your soldiers leave or we throw them out”.

Kris Singh, the head of Holtec – a private United States nuclear power company working in Ukraine – said Russia’s occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is a serious hit to the future of clean energy.

Russia took over the plant, Europe’s biggest, soon after its February 24 invasion of Ukraine. The plant has suffered shelling, for which Russia and Ukraine blame each other.

In an open letter, Singh said that Putin’s military occupation of the plant should be viewed as a “serious blow to humanity’s clean energy future”, adding that it has “normalised a new horrendous instrument of war”.

Holtec works on the storage of spent nuclear fuel and wants to build next-generation small modular reactors in Ukraine.

The Pentagon said the world was deeply sceptical about President Putin’s call for a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine.

“I think that there’s significant scepticism both here in the US and around the world right now, given Russia’s long track record of propaganda, disinformation, and its relentless attacks against Ukrainian cities and civilians,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters.

“Our focus will continue to be on supporting Ukraine,” Ryder added.

In addition to Washington’s latest aid package, Germany will also supply Ukraine with armoured vehicles, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden said in a joint statement issued after a telephone call.

In a statement, the White House confirmed the US will supply Ukraine with Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and that “Germany intends to provide Ukraine with Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicles”.

“Both countries plan to train Ukrainian forces on the respective systems,” the statement said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed doubt that the rejection of Russia’s proposed truce by an aide to Zelenskyy reflected the Ukrainian leader’s view, Interfax news agency reported.

“It is difficult for us to judge whether Podolyak’s opinion reflects the view of the president of Ukraine,” Interfax quoted Peskov as saying.

Zelenskyy has yet to comment on the proposed truce during Orthodox Christmas celebrations. Earlier, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak rejected the proposal as “hypocrisy”, saying such an arrangement would only be possible if Russia left all territories it occupied.

The US will send Ukraine nearly $3bn in military aid in a massive new package that will, for the first time, include several dozen Bradley fighting vehicles, US officials said.

The aid – totalling about $2.85bn – is the largest in a series of packages of military equipment the Pentagon has pulled from its stockpiles to send to Ukraine.

The Bradley fighting vehicle is a medium-armoured combat vehicle that can serve as a fortified troop carrier on the battlefield. It has tracks rather than wheels but is lighter and more agile than a tank. It can carry about 10 people and is seen as a critical way to move troops safely into battle.

Also included in the aid package will be Humvees, mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, or MRAPs, and a large number of missiles, as well as other ammunition.

A United Nations spokesman said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres would welcome any truce in Ukraine during Orthodox Christmas, “knowing that this will not replace a just peace in line with the UN Charter and international law”.

The UN’s Guterres has disbanded a fact-finding mission into a July attack in the frontline Ukrainian town of Olenivka, which killed prisoners held by Moscow-backed separatists, because the UN mission cannot deploy to the site, a spokesman said.

Russia and Ukraine both requested an investigation, which Guterres had announced in August.

US President Joe Biden said Putin’s order for a two-day Orthodox Christmas ceasefire in Ukraine was simply an effort to find breathing room for his war effort.

Asked about the proposed truce, Biden told reporters at the White House: “I’m reluctant to respond to anything that Putin says. I found it interesting that he was willing to bomb hospitals and nurseries and churches … on the 25th and New Year’s. I mean, I think he’s trying to find some oxygen.”

German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock slammed a ceasefire ordered by Russia in Ukraine and said that if Putin really wanted peace “he would bring his soldiers home”.

“A so-called ceasefire brings neither freedom nor security to people living in daily fear under Russian occupation,” Baerbock wrote on Twitter.

Wenn Putin Frieden wollte, würde er seine Soldaten nach Hause holen, und der Krieg wäre vorbei. Aber offenbar will er den Krieg fortsetzen, nach kurzer Unterbrechung. 1/2

— Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock (@ABaerbock) January 5, 2023

Germany is working with allies to see what more it can do to support Ukraine in the war against Russia, Baerbock said during a visit to London.

When asked about sending modern military vehicles to Ukraine, as France announced it would do this week, the foreign minister said Germany is “going together with our partners”, without confirming what kind of new weapons Berlin could send.

Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, reporting from Kyiv, says it appears “highly doubtful” that Ukraine will agree to a ceasefire with Russia.

“We haven’t had any official statement yet by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but one can only assume that it is going to be consistent with what Mykhailo Podolyak said,” Stratford said, citing Zelenskyy’s adviser, who slammed Moscow’s proposed truce as a “hypocrisy”.

“And there’s an interesting change of atmosphere that is gathering pace in Ukraine, in as far as a move away from fundamentally an Orthodox Christmas, because many Ukrainians associate Orthodoxy with Russia and by default Russian aggression,” he added.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a political adviser to Ukraine’s president, has slammed Putin’s order for a Christmas ceasefire and accused Moscow of “hypocrisy” for calling on Ukraine to also declare a truce.

“First. Ukraine doesn’t attack foreign territory & doesn’t kill civilians. As RF [The Russian Federation] does,” Podolyak tweeted.

“Ukraine destroys only members of the occupation army on its territory… Second. RF must leave the occupied territories – only then will it have a ‘temporary truce’. Keep hypocrisy to yourself,” he added.

First. Ukraine doesn't attack foreign territory & doesn't kill civilians. As RF does. Ukraine destroys only members of the occupation army on its territory…
Second. RF must leave the occupied territories – only then will it have a "temporary truce". Keep hypocrisy to yourself.

— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) January 5, 2023

Here is some of the official wording from Putin’s order for a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine over Orthodox Christmas.

“Taking into account the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation to introduce a ceasefire regime along the entire line of contact of the parties in Ukraine from 12:00 on January 6, 2023 to 24:00 on January 7, 2023,” Putin said.

“Proceeding from the fact that a large number of citizens professing Orthodoxy live in the areas of hostilities, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire and allow them to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on Christmas Day,” he added.

Putin has instructed Russia’s defence minister to introduce a ceasefire in Ukraine from noon local time (10:00 GMT) on Friday to midnight (22:00 GMT) on Saturday, in line with the Orthodox Christian Christmas.

There was no immediate response from Ukraine, which earlier on Thursday rejected a call from the head of the Russian Orthodox Church for a truce as a “cynical trap”.

The first batch of Russian prisoners who were offered amnesty in return for fighting in Ukraine has been released, the head of Wagner, the Russian mercenary group, has said.

In a video published by Russia’s Ria Novosti news agency, Yevgeny Prigozhin is seen telling a group of men: “You’ve worked through your contract. You worked honourably, with dignity.”

Read more here.

Kyiv has rejected a call from the head of the Russian Orthodox Church for a Christmas ceasefire as a “cynical trap”.

Patriarch Kirill suggested a truce from noon Friday through midnight Saturday, local time. The Russian Orthodox Church, which uses the ancient Julian calendar, celebrates Christmas on January 7.

But Mykhailo Podolyak, a political adviser to Ukraine’s president, quickly dismissed the idea as a “cynical trap”, pointing out that Patriarch Kirill has repeatedly backed what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

“ROC [The Russian Orthodox Church] is not an authority for global Orthodoxy & acts as a ‘war propagandist’. ROC called for the genocide of Ukrainians, incited mass murder & insists on even greater militarisation of RF [The Russian Federation]. Thus, ROC’s statement about ‘Christmas truce’ is a cynical trap & an element of propaganda,” Podolyak tweeted.

ROC is not an authority for global Orthodoxy & acts as a "war propagandist". ROC called for the genocide of Ukrainians, incited mass murder & insists on even greater militarization of RF. Thus, ROC's statement about "Christmas truce" is a cynical trap & an element of propaganda.

— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) January 5, 2023

A married couple and their 12-year-old son have been killed by a Russian attack on a residential building in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, a Ukrainian official has said.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, said in a Telegram post that the building in the town of Beryslav was hit as the family was preparing to celebrate the Orthodox Christian Christmas.

He described the incident as a base attack that was carried out soon after Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, called for a Christmas truce. Kyiv dismissed the appeal as a “cynical” trap. Russia denies targeting civilians in its offensive.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify Tymoshenko’s report.

Belarus says it is continuing to build up a joint military grouping with Russia and is preparing for joint air force exercises with its neighbour and main ally.

The Belarusian defence ministry said in a statement that the goal of creating such a joint force was “strengthening the protection and defence of the Union State (of Russia and Belarus)”.

“Personnel, weapons, military and special equipment of the armed forces of the Russian Federation will continue to arrive in the Republic of Belarus,” the statement said.

The ministry did not disclose the date of the upcoming air force exercises and did not provide any further details.