Members of the Orthodox Church across Eastern Europe will observe Christmas over the weekend
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his armed forces to observe a 36-hour ceasefire this weekend due to the Orthodox Christmas holiday.
It appears Mr Putin has not made the ceasefire order conditional on Ukraine's agreement and it was not clear whether hostilities will actually come to a temporary stop across the 1,100km front line. Ukrainian officials previously dismissed Russian signs of peace as a way to regroup forces and prepare for additional attacks.Mr Putin has previously made limited and local truces to allow evacuations of civilians or other humanitarian purposes.
The move comes after the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, proposed a truce from noon on Friday through to midnight on Saturday local time. Despite this, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Pdolyak dismissed Patriarch Kirill's call as "a cynical trap and an element of propaganda".
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