Russian Troops to Further Observe Ceasefire Despite Shelling by Kiev, Defense Ministry Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian armed forces will continue to comply with the Christmas ceasefire regime despite continued shelling by Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

"Despite the artillery shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces at Russian positions and residential areas, the implementation of the declared ceasefire regime will be continued by the Russian group of troops (forces) until 24:00 today [21:00 GMT]," the ministry said.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the defense ministry to introduce a 36-hour ceasefire along the line of contact between the warring sides in Ukraine from January 6-7 to allow Orthodox Christians in the areas of hostilities to attend church on Orthodox Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Olexiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's national security and defense council, rejected the truce offer. Washington and Berlin also rejected the offer. US President Joe Biden suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "trying to find some oxygen," while German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock argued that a truce would bring "neither freedom nor security."

On Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian troops continued shelling in the Donbass despite the ceasefire observed by Moscow.

On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations. In response to Russia’s operation, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow,.