Kremlin-ordered truce uncertain amid mutual mistrust

No explosions were heard in the capital but news of any fighting elsewhere in the country could take hours to become public.

With no degree of certainty whether the truce was holding or not, hours after it was due to begin, Kyiv residents ventured out into a light dusting of snow to buy gifts, cakes and food for their Christmas Eve celebrations.

The Russian-declared truce in the nearly 11-month war was set to begin at 12pm on Friday and continue until midnight on Sunday local time. Kyiv officials dismissed the move as a ploy but did not clarify whether Ukrainian troops would follow suit.

Moscow did not say whether forces would retaliate if Ukraine kept fighting but the Moscow-appointed head of the Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, said they would.

Air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv at about 12.40pm but no blasts were heard. The widely used Alerts In Ukraine app, which includes information from emergency services, showed sirens blaring across the country.

The Russian military said Ukrainian forces continued to shell its positions despite the truce – which Kyiv never agreed to.

Russia’s defence ministry said its forces returned fire to suppress the attacks, though it was not entirely clear from the statement whether the attacks and return fire took place before or after the ceasefire was meant to start.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov reported multiple attacks in the eastern Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions, though it was not possible to verify the claims.

Mr Putin’s Thursday announcement that the Kremlin’s troops would stop fighting along the 684-mile front line or elsewhere was unexpected.

It came after the Russian Orthodox Church head, Patriarch Kirill, proposed a ceasefire for this weekend’s Orthodox Christmas holiday.

The Orthodox Church, which uses the Julian calendar, celebrates Christmas on January 7.

But Ukrainian and western officials suspected an ulterior motive in Mr Putin’s apparent goodwill gesture.

They portrayed the announcement as an attempt by Mr Putin to grab the moral high ground while possibly seeking to snatch the battlefield initiative and rob the Ukrainians of momentum amid their counter-offensive of recent months.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky questioned the Kremlin’s intentions, accusing it of planning the fighting pause “to continue the war with renewed vigour”.

“Now they want to use Christmas as a cover to stop the advance of our guys in the (eastern) Donbas (region) for a while and bring equipment, ammunition and mobilised people closer to our positions,” Mr Zelensky said late on Thursday.

He did not, however, say outright that Kyiv would ignore Mr Putin’s request.

US President Joe Biden echoed Mr Zelensky’s wariness, saying it is “interesting” Mr Putin was ready to bomb hospitals, nurseries and churches during the western festive period.

“I think (Putin) is trying to find some oxygen,” Mr Biden said without elaborating.

In a Christmas Eve message to the nation, Mr Zelensky called it “a holiday of harmony and family unity. And together we are all a big Ukrainian family”.

He added: “No matter where we are now — at home, at work, in a trench, on the road, in Ukraine or abroad — our family is united as never before. United in its belief in a single victory.”

US state department spokesman Ned Price said Washington has “little faith in the intentions behind this announcement”, adding Kremlin officials “have given us no reason to take anything that they offer at face value”.

The truce order seems to be a ploy “to rest, refit, regroup, and ultimately reattack”, he said.

The Institute For The Study Of War agreed the truce could be a ruse allowing Russia to regroup.

“Such a pause would disproportionately benefit Russian troops and begin to deprive Ukraine of the initiative,” the think tank said late on Thursday.

“Putin cannot reasonably expect Ukraine to meet the terms of this suddenly declared ceasefire and may have called for the ceasefire to frame Ukraine as unaccommodating and unwilling to take the necessary steps toward negotiations.”

Washington says it is prepared to keep backing Ukraine’s war effort.

Later on Friday, the US is due to announce nearly three billion dollars (£2.52 billion) in military aid for Ukraine — a major new package that is expected to include several dozen Bradley fighting vehicles for the first time.

Germany also plans to send armoured personnel carriers by the end of March.

The ill-feeling between the warring sides show no signs of abating, despite the backdrop of Christmas.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s security council, said those who rejected Mr Putin’s proposal for a Christmas truce are “clowns” and “pigs”.

“The hand of Christian mercy was extended to the Ukrainians,” he said in a Telegram post. “But pigs have no faith and no innate sense of gratitude.”

Some civilians on the streets of Kyiv said they speak from bitter experience in doubting Russia’s motives.

“Everybody is preparing (for an attack) because everybody remembers what happened on the new year when there were around 40 Shahed (Iranian drones),” local resident Vasyl Kuzmenko said. “But everything is possible.”

At the Vatican, Pope Francis said he is sending wishes from his heart “to the Eastern churches, both the Catholic and the Orthodox ones, that tomorrow will celebrate the birth of the Lord”.

Speaking on Friday to thousands of faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square for the church Epiphany feast day, Francis said: “In a special way, I would like my wish to reach the brothers and sisters of martyred Ukraine.

“May the birth of the Saviour infuse comfort, infuse hope and inspire concrete steps that can finally bring an end to the fighting and inspire peace.”

The deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, on Friday said nine civilians were killed and a further 11 hurt in Russian attacks on Thursday.

Citing data from regional officials, Mr Tymoshenko said one civilian died and three were hurt in the country’s eastern Donetsk province, where Russia has launched a grinding offensive, while one was hurt in the neighbouring north-eastern Kharkiv province.

Six dead and four wounded were reported following attacks in the southern Kherson province, together with two dead and three wounded in the south-eastern Zaporizhzhia province.