OREANDA-NEWS Russian President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin instructed Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to introduce a ceasefire along the entire line of contact between the sides in Ukraine from 12:00 on January 6 to 24:00 on January 7, the Kremlin's press service reported.

"Based on the fact that a large number of citizens who profess Orthodoxy live in the areas of hostilities, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire and allow them to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on Christmas Day," the message says.

Patriarch Kirill had previously proposed to establish a Christmas truce in the war zone within these terms. In addition, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called during a telephone conversation with Putin to support calls for peace and dialogue with a "unilateral cessation of hostilities and a fair settlement of differences."

Russia has not received any proposals from Ukraine on a New Year or Christmas cease-fire, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in December. He also clarified that such a topic is not on the agenda.

At the same time, before the New Year, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky called on Russia to begin withdrawing troops from the country by Christmas. The Kremlin stated that this was "out of the question" and pointed out that Kiev should take into account the fact that new subjects have appeared in Russia.

Following the results of the September referendums, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions were incorporated into Russia. Ukraine and Western countries did not recognize this decision.