Russian President Vladimir Putin announces temporary ceasefire in war with Ukraine

Russian President Vlimir Putin has announced a 'Christmas truce', a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine war which will enter its 12th month on February this year. This comes just a few weeks after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed a peace plan with certain conditions to enter a ceasefire and end conflict. 

"Taking into account appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct defence minister of Russian Federation to introduce from 12:00 (0900 GMT) on January 6, 2023, until 24:00 (2100 GMT) on January 7, 2023, a ceasefire along entire line of contact between sides in Ukraine," an official statement from Kremlin re. 

"Proceeding from fact that a large number of citizens professing Orthodoxy live in areas of hostilities, we call on Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire and allow m to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on Christmas Day," Putin said. According to Kremlin announcement, ceasefire will last for 36 hours. 

Mykhailo Podolyak, an visor to Ukraine's president dismissed ceasefire as a "cynical trap" and "propoganda". He also called Putin's gesture "hypocrisy".

obvious question that arises now is this - why is a ceasefire being announced now? Well, here is thing, both Ukraine and Russia, historically speaking, celebrate Christmas on January 7th inste of December 25th. However, most Ukrainians this time around decided to celebrate Christmas on December 25th inste of January 7th. 

Until recently, commemorating birth of Jesus in December was not accepted in Ukraine. However, due to Russia's invasion, many people's opinions have changed. In October, leership of Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which is independent of Russian church and one of two branches of Orthodox Christianity in country, agreed to allow people to celebrate on December 25th. choice of dates has significant political and religious implications in a country with rival Orthodox churches, and small changes to rituals can hold a lot of meaning in ongoing cultural conflict that coincides with ongoing military conflict.

Christmas celebrations in Ukraine were thrown into disarray following a decree by Synod of Orthodox Church of Ukraine that local church rectors can choose which date to celebrate holiday. This decision triggered criticism by some members of church, who argued that change could furr divide an alrey divided country.

controversy stems from fact that Ukraine switched to Gregorian calendar in 1918, causing country to celebrate Christmas on December 25 like rest of world. However, parts of Orthodox Church, including Russian Orthodox Church and Ukrainian Orthodox Church, never me switch and continue to follow Julian calendar, celebrating Christmas on January 7.

According to a report from AP, city of Bobrovytsia voted to opt December 25 as official date for Christmas celebrations, with 200 out of 204 people supporting change. However, this move faced backlash from some members of Ukrainian Orthodox Church, who argued that it goes against trition and could furr divide country along religious lines.