by Olena Harmash and Herbert Villarraga
KYIV/KRAMATORSK (Reuters) – – The unilateral ceasefire announced by Russia in Ukraine for Orthodox Christmas officially entered into force on Friday but exchanges of fire were heard on the front line despite the truce, denounced as a sham by Kyiv and Western countries.
The 36-hour ceasefire, unexpectedly decreed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, began on all front lines in Ukraine at noon Moscow time (0900 GMT), and is due to end at midnight on Saturday. .
Kyiv has said it has no intention of stopping the fighting, saying Moscow’s proposed truce is a subterfuge to give Russian troops time to build up after heavy losses in recent days.
The Russian Defense Ministry has accused Ukraine of targeting Russian military positions after the ceasefire was put in place.
Ukrainian forces attacked in Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions, the ministry said. “Four mortar shells were fired at the Russian positions by the Ukrainian armed forces in the direction of Lyman,” he said.
Reuters could not immediately verify whether or not there had been a lull in the fighting since the start of the truce.
A resident of the city of Donetsk, close to the front, described artillery fire coming from pro-Russian positions on the outskirts of this industrial city after the entry into force of the ceasefire.
Despite warning sirens that sounded in several regions, no major airstrikes were reported by Ukrainian officials after the start of the truce.
“CYNICISM”
In the hours leading up to the ceasefire, Russian shells hit Kramatorsk, a Ukrainian town near the front line in the Donetsk region that Russia claims as its territory, on Friday morning.
According to the mayor of the city, 14 houses were damaged without, however, causing any casualties.
In southern Ukraine, a rescue worker was killed and four others injured after Russian forces shelled a Kherson fire station before the truce came into effect, the regional governor said.
Reuters could not immediately verify this information.
Vladimir Putin’s unexpected ceasefire proposal has sparked contempt for Kyiv and skepticism among Western countries supporting Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden has suggested that this truce proposal provides evidence of Vladimir Putin’s great difficulties. “I think he’s trying to find some oxygen,” he told reporters at the White House.
France, for its part, considered that the Russian ceasefire constituted a “gross attempt on the part of Russia to hide its responsibility” and “additional proof of cynicism” from Moscow.
(Reuters offices, writing by Frank Jack Daniel; French version Kate Entringer and Blandine Hénault, editing by Bertrand Boucey)