Putin's ceasefire has begun – Medvedev rants about Baerbock and "European pigsty"

Created: 01/06/2023Updated: 01/06/2023 10:38 am

By: Florian Naumann, Bedrettin Bölükbasi, Fabian Müller

Russian President Vladimir Putin with Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev.

(Archive image) © ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/AFP

Russia's ruler Putin has ordered a ceasefire before the Orthodox Christmas.

It is short, but should allow for a quiet celebration.

Update from January 6, 10:30

a.m .: The unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine for Orthodox Christmas announced by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin on Thursday officially came into force on Friday afternoon Moscow time (10:00 a.m.CET).

The probability that the ceasefire will last the ordered 36 hours is considered low.

Politicians deployed by Moscow in the occupied territories of Ukraine have already made it clear that they are ready to shoot if in doubt.

"This does not mean that we will not respond to the enemy's provocations!" wrote Russia's Donetsk governor Denis Puschilin on Telegram.

After Kiev's rejection of the ceasefire, Russia's ex-president Dmitry Medvedev has insulted Ukrainian politicians.

“Pigs have no faith or an innate sense of gratitude.

They only understand brute force and squeakingly demand food from their masters,” wrote the deputy chief of the Russian Security Council on his Telegram channel on Friday.

The 57-year-old also referred to Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) in this context.

According to Medvedev, the Russian leadership has stretched out the "hand of Christian charity" to the Ukrainians.

This was rejected, also because the West did not allow the Christmas peace.

"Even the uneducated woman Baerbock and a number of other overseers in the European pigsty managed to grumble about the inadmissibility of a ceasefire," Medvedev wrote.

The Kremlin justified the ceasefire by wanting to give believers the opportunity to take part in church services.

Putin's "so-called ceasefire": Annalena Baerbock criticizes the ceasefire

Update from January 5, 7:23 p.m .:

US President Joe Biden has criticized the ceasefire in Ukraine ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas as an attempt by Moscow to gain a breather.

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.

The government in Kyiv had previously described the ceasefire announced by the Kremlin on Thursday as a "pure propaganda gesture".

Russia must “leave the occupied territories - only then will there be a 'temporary ceasefire'.

Keep the hypocrisy to yourself,” Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podoliak wrote on Twitter.

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock criticized the ceasefire on Twitter as a "so-called ceasefire" that brings "neither freedom nor security" to people under Russian occupation.

Putin apparently wants to "continue the war after a short break".

Putin Orders Christmas Ceasefire – Ukraine Responds Brusquely: “Keep Your Hypocrisy”

First report:

Munich/Moscow – Unexpected developments in the Ukraine war: Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin announced a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine shortly before the orthodox Christmas celebrations.

In accordance with the appeal of the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, Putin ordered a ceasefire from Friday from 10:00 a.m. to Saturday at 10:00 p.m. (Central European Time), the Kremlin announced on Thursday (January 5).

The Russian army should therefore stop fighting on the entire front.

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A large number of Orthodox people live in the area of ​​the fighting, the statement said, quoted by the Russian state agency TASS.

Therefore, the Ukrainian side is called on to also order a ceasefire and thus allow the population to attend church services.

However, the Ukrainian government is unlikely to heed the Kremlin's call.

Kyiv had already rejected such a ceasefire after Kirill called it a "cynical trap".

Immediately after the announcement from the Kremlin, Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mikhail Podoljak commented on Twitter.

"First, Ukraine does not attack foreign territories or kill civilians like Russia does," he wrote.

Ukraine is only destroying the “occupying army”.

It also said: "Secondly, Russia must leave the occupied territories." Only then could there be a "temporary ceasefire": "Keep your hypocrisy to yourself."

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Ukraine war: Putin orders ceasefire – Ukraine rejects “cynical trap”

The influential head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, had previously called for a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Orthodox Christmas celebrations so that believers could attend mass.

The Eastern Churches celebrate Christmas on January 7 according to the Julian calendar.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also called for a "unilateral ceasefire" in a telephone call with Putin on Thursday, although the statement by the Turkish President's Office did not make it clear that he was addressing the Russian side.