During the Russian Orthodox Christmas period, shelling damage continued to affect Ukrainian power facilities and urban areas. This rendered meaningless the 36-hour ceasefire order issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin to commemorate the Orthodox Christmas.
Major foreign media reported that on the 7th (local time), the Orthodox Christmas day, two thermal power plants in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine were damaged by shelling. On the same day, a drone attack occurred in Sevastopol, a southwestern port city on the Crimean Peninsula controlled by Russia. The pro-Russian regional government in the area claimed that the Ukrainian military carried out the drone attack but that it was shot down.
There were also multiple testimonies that Russian forces, despite the temporary ceasefire order, conducted airstrikes across Ukraine. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said that after the Russian side’s 36-hour ceasefire declaration took effect at noon on the 6th, Russian forces launched two rocket attacks on Kramatorsk, a major city in eastern Donetsk Oblast. Foreign media also reported that in the battleground city of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast, shelling and small arms fire continued.
Serhiy Haidai, governor of Luhansk Oblast, claimed via Telegram that during the first three hours after the ceasefire time unilaterally announced by Russian forces, the Russian military shelled Ukrainian positions 14 times.
On the 5th, President Putin ordered a ceasefire for Russian soldiers participating in the war in Ukraine, starting from noon on the 6th, Christmas Eve of the Russian Orthodox Church, lasting 36 hours. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that Russia’s ceasefire announcement was merely a ruse.
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