Iran Press/ Europe: The Kremlin said Putin had ordered a ceasefire from midday on Friday after a call for a Christmas truce from Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
"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 in the order.
"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," Putin said.
But Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak tweeted back that Russia "must leave the occupied territories - only then will it have a 'temporary truce'. Keep hypocrisy to yourself."
He said that, unlike Russia, Ukraine was not attacking foreign territory or killing civilians, only destroying "members of the occupation army on its territory".
Podolak had earlier rejected Kirill's for a truce as "a cynical trap and an element of propaganda".
He described the Russian Orthodox Church, which has endorsed the invasion, as a "war propagandist" that had incited the "mass murder" of Ukrainians and the militarisation of Russia.
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