President Putin announces Christmas truce

Moscow, SANA-The cessation of hostilities in Ukraine is to last from noon on Friday until midnight on Saturday, the Kremlin has revealed

President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to impose a cessation in hostilities in Ukraine. Hours earlier, Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, had called on both sides of the conflict to cease hostilities in the run-up to, and during, the Orthodox Christmas holiday.

RT quoted a source in the Kremlin as saying that the truce is to last from noon local time on Friday January 6 until midnight on Saturday January 7.

“Judging by the fact that a lot of citizens who practice the Orthodox religion live in the embattled area, we call upon the Ukrainian side to proclaim a cessation of hostilities and give them the opportunity to attend services on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day,” a Kremlin statement reads.

Mazen Eyon