After ordering a ceasefire in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin appeared at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow this Friday evening.
He was not expected this Friday evening. The President of the Russian Federation took part in the Orthodox Christmas Mass, which will be held on January 6-7 at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, as we saw in a live video broadcast.
No information about his presence was given before Saturday. These religious celebrations are marked this year by a unilateral ceasefire declared by Russia in Ukraine on Thursday. This “ceasefire” should have started at 12 noon on Friday, an initiative the sincerity of which has been questioned by Kyiv.
A “hypocritical” truce
Following a call from Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, but also a suggestion from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on his army on Thursday to “respect a ceasefire along the entire line of contact between the parties.
He had called on the Ukrainian armed forces to respect this ceasefire in order to give the Orthodox, the majority denomination in Ukraine and Russia, the opportunity “to take part in services on Christmas Eve and on the day of the Nativity of Christ”. .
However, artillery duels continued on Friday in Bakhmout, the epicenter of fighting in eastern Ukraine, and Ukrainian authorities deplored shelling elsewhere in the country.