UPDATE - Russia announces unilateral holiday cease-fire in Ukraine from noon Friday to midnight Saturday

ADDS STATEMENT OF RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY, UKRAINE TOP OFFICIAL, KREMLIN SPOKESMAN

By Ceyhun Alizade

ANKARA (AA) - Citing the Moscow patriarch’s holiday appeal, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a cease-fire along the entire line of contact in Ukraine from noon Moscow time Friday till midnight on Saturday, said a Kremlin statement on Thursday.

“Given the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation (Sergey Shoygu) to introduce a cease-fire regime along the entire line of contact between the parties in Ukraine from 12:00 (0900GMT) January 6, 2023 to 24:00 (2100GMT) January 7, 2023,” the statement said.

"Based on the fact that a large number of people professing Orthodoxy live in the combat areas, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a cease-fire and give them the opportunity to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on the Day of the Nativity of Christ," it added.

Following the order, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that instructions were given to troops to introduce a cease-fire regime for 36 hours along the entire line of contact between the parties in Ukraine.

Ukraine labeled the temporary truce "hypocrisy."

"First. Ukraine doesn't attack foreign territory & doesn't kill civilians. As RF does. Ukraine destroys only members of the occupation army on its territory... Second. RF must leave the occupied territories - only then will it have a 'temporary truce'. Keep hypocrisy to yourself," Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of Ukraine's presidential office, wrote on Twitter.

Earlier on Thursday, Kirill, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, called for a truce in Ukraine for the occasion of the Christmas Day, which is celebrated by most Orthodox Christians on Jan. 7, this year falling on Saturday.

Separately, Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the Kremlin knows nothing about the Russian president's "alleged plans" to travel to Donetsk for Christmas.