Russia expert: Putin’s “tactically clever move”.

However, the probability that the ceasefire will last the ordered 36 hours is considered low. Clashes have already been reported in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Kramatorsk and Bakhmut.

From the start, Ukraine dismissed the offer as a “pure propaganda gesture.” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily video address, speaking clearly in Russian rather than Ukrainian, that the war will only end “when their soldiers leave or we throw them out.”

Russia expert Wolfgang Mueller spoke Thursday evening in ORF’s “ZiB2” of a “tactically clever move” by Putin. On the one hand, the head of the Kremlin is showing that he is “in charge of action,” on the other hand he is “putting Ukraine under pressure,” said the professor at the Institute for Eastern European History at the University of Vienna. In addition, it could be an attempt to break the closed front against Russia in Ukraine but also in the West, said the expert. You can watch the interview in the video:

Attacks despite ceasefire

Russian forces launched rocket attacks on Kramatorsk after the announced ceasefire, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, told Telegram. In the recently heavily contested city of Bakhmut, AFP reporters heard gunfire from both the Russian and Ukrainian sides. However, the shelling was lighter than in the days and weeks before in Bachmut. The city’s streets, which were largely destroyed, were largely empty apart from military vehicles. The Russian armed forces have been trying to take the city since the summer.

Tymoshenko also said on Friday that Russian forces had also attacked the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. Accordingly, there were “at least four explosions” in which numerous people were killed or injured. Tymoshenko did not say whether the attack came before or after the ceasefire announced by Moscow.

The Kremlin justified the ceasefire by wanting to give believers the opportunity to take part in church services. The Ukrainian leadership has already rejected the request to also put the guns down during the run-up. Peace can only come after the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, sources in Kyiv said.

At the same time, politicians appointed by Moscow in the occupied areas of Ukraine have made it clear that they are prepared to shoot if in doubt. Putin’s order only applies to offensive actions by the Russian side. “This does not mean that we will not respond to enemy provocations! Or even give the enemy any chance to improve their positions on the front line during these holiday hours,” Moscow-appointed Donetsk governor Denis Puschilin wrote on Thursday in his Telegram channel.

Shortly after the ceasefire came into effect, representatives of the Russian occupying power in eastern Ukraine told the state news agency TASS on Friday: “Exactly at 12 noon, when the ceasefire came into force, the Ukrainian armed forces shelled Donetsk with artillery weapons.” How the Russian side reacted to the alleged shelling was initially unclear.

In September, Moscow declared the four Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson to be annexed. Large parts of the international community do not recognize the annexations. Fierce fighting is currently taking place around these areas in eastern Ukraine and in the south.

US President Joe Biden saw the ceasefire in Washington ordered by Putin as an attempt by Moscow to gain some breathing space. On December 25 and the New Year, Putin was ready to “bomb hospitals and kindergartens and churches,” Biden said in Washington on Thursday. “I think he’s just trying to get some air,” Biden said.

Biden sees the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine at a critical juncture. At a cabinet meeting in the White House, the Democrat said the United States and its allies would “continue to increase support for Ukraine,” referring to the recent pledge by the United States and Germany to also supply infantry fighting vehicles to Kyiv for the first time.

Germany’s Annalena Baerbock also commented on Putin’s announcement: “A so-called ceasefire will bring neither freedom nor security to the people who live in daily fear under Russian occupation,” Baerbock tweeted. “A withdrawal of Russian troops is the only serious option to restore peace and security,” tweeted EU Council President Charles Michel.

It is the first time since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine that Moscow has announced a full ceasefire in the country. Putin was responding to an appeal by 76-year-old Russian Patriarch Kirill, who had asked for such a ceasefire during the Orthodox Christmas celebrations celebrated in both countries. Kirill is a vehement supporter of Putin and his policies and preaches against Kyiv and the West.

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