It’s only a very short time ago, but it’s useful to remember: Ukraine was bombed by Russia on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Now, hours after a call for a ceasefire by Orthodox Church Patriarch Cyril, as well as Turkish President Erdogan, the Russian leader has announced that guns will be silent on the frontline for 36 hours from Friday.
The measure is unprecedented, but failed to warm the hearts of Ukrainian leaders, frozen by a reality in which civilians are still daily victims of attacks by the occupiers, such as what happened in Beryslav, in the Kherson region: a couple and a 12-year-old son died in a bombing.
Vladimir Putin’s attempt at new notoriety, days after the deadliest attack on Russian troops, was immediately thwarted by reactions from Kiev, Washington and Berlin, paralleling former President Medvedev’s usual threats. As in the platitude of a policeman, the Kremlin showed goodwill by “announcing a ceasefire regime for the entire contact line in Ukraine”, “taking into account the appeal” of Patriarch Cyril.
The Russian Patriarch issued the appeal “so that the Orthodox may attend services on Christmas Eve and on the day of Christ’s birth”. Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on the 7th. However, the split between Moscow and Kiev meant that many Ukrainians started celebrating on the same date as the rest of Christendom, which is December 25th.
Cirilo, 76, is an ardent supporter of Vladimir Putin and the war. As a result, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church broke with Moscow in May, Pope Francis revealed a disagreement between the two, interrupting the historic rapprochement between Catholics and Orthodox, and is the target of sanctions from the United States, United Kingdom and Canada .
Dmitry Medvedev returned to play the role of a “bad cop”. Putin’s deputy on Russia’s Security Council said his country would speak the “language of power” against its opponents, produce more weapons and pose a threat to the United States. “The main gift for the New Year was the cargo of Zircon missiles that left for the coasts of NATO countries. The range of their use is one thousand kilometers with the hypersonic Mach 9 (nine times the speed of sound) and the capacity to use any payload is guaranteed to overcome any anti-missile defense,” he said of the Admiral Gorhskov frigate.
“Let it be somewhere within 100 miles of the coast, closer to the Potomac River. Rejoice! It will bring to their senses anyone who poses a direct threat to Russia and our allies,” Medvedev said in a Telegram message. The Potomac River flows through the capital of the United States, Washington.
Medvedev’s threats come on the heels of a statement from the US embassy in Moscow showing solidarity with Russian citizens “striving for a more peaceful future”. For the former Russian president, this is “extreme cynicism in the best traditions of the Nazis”.
lies and propaganda
The Kremlin’s Christmas truce has been the subject of criticism. In Ukraine, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council described the initiative as “lies and hypocrisy”. Oleksiy Danilov asked, “How do a bunch of petty Kremlin demons relate to a Christian holiday? Who believes the scum that kill children, bomb maternity hospitals, and torture prisoners?” Hours earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky’s adviser Mikhailo Podolyak responded to the Kremlin’s message, saying a ceasefire would only be possible after Russia left the occupied territories. “Leave the hypocrisy to yourself,” Podolyak advised Moscow.
On the same day that Washington and Berlin announced in a joint statement that the United States and Germany would follow France and send tanks to Ukraine, as well as another Patriot defense system, the US president and the head of German diplomacy joined the criticism from Kiev. “I think that he [Putin] he’s trying to find some oxygen,” said Joe Biden, adding, “He was prepared to bomb hospitals, kindergartens and churches” on Dec. 25 and New Year’s Day.
The German foreign minister said that if the Russian leader really wanted peace “he would take his soldiers home”. For Annalena Baerbock, “a so-called ceasefire brings neither freedom nor security to people who live in daily fear under the Russian occupation”.
Source: DN
