Both sides of the Ukrainian conflict are reporting attacks on their positions during a ceasefire that President Vladimir Putin unilaterally announced over Russian Orthodox Christmas.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its troops will comply with the Russian Orthodox Patriarch’s order for a 36-hour ceasefire starting Friday afternoon Moscow time.
The ministry said that during this period, Ukraine continued to shell the Zaporozhye and eastern regions of Donbass with mortars.
Ukraine rejected the ceasefire, which President Volodymyr Zelensky called “a cover to at least temporarily stop the advance of our people into the Donbass and bring equipment, ammunition and mobilized people closer to our positions.”
Ukraine said Russian forces continued to attack during the ceasefire, with shelling in Kherson killing a humanitarian aid worker and reports of artillery shelling of Kramatorsk in Donbas.
Air raid sirens sounded in several Ukrainian cities, but there were no explosions.
This was reported by researchers from open sources, who tracked the conflict on satellite images. I There was little evidence of a truce with both sides firing at multiple locations.
EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell said the ceasefire was “not credible”.
However, Russian military experts have criticized the order after reports that Russian troops are fighting fierce battles around the Donbas town of Bakhmut.
“Any military equipment brought to Ukrainian positions, rotation of personnel, equipping of positions is carried out openly … since Russian troops are forbidden to open fire,” wrote the popular Telegram channel Older Eddy.
“The patriarch can immediately start praying for the souls of our fallen soldiers who will then die.”
The ceasefire is the latest in a series of recent moves by Russia to de-escalate hostilities after a string of painful defeats.
“We are ready for negotiations,” Putin said in December. But Russia has said that the territory it occupies in Ukraine is non-negotiable.
Konrad Muzyka of defense consulting firm Rochen said the ceasefire was “a cynical attempt to portray Ukraine as an actor who doesn’t want to negotiate” to encourage international partners to cut support.
He added that such an outcome was unlikely given the new US$3bn (£2.5bn) aid package recently announced by the US.
Muzyk said Russia’s strategic priority is to prevent Ukraine from launching a winter offensive in order to allow Russia to fully train its hundreds of thousands of mobilized troops ahead of the expected heavy fighting in the spring.