Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine to run throughout Orthodox Christmas, a transfer shortly dismissed by war-battered Kyiv and its allies.

Putin’s directive to his troops was introduced days after Moscow suffered its deadliest reported lack of the invasion, and as Ukraine’s supporters pledged to ship armoured automobiles and a second Patriot air defence battery to help Kyiv.

Both nations have fun Orthodox Christmas and the Russian leader’s order came following ceasefire calls from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia’s non secular chief Patriarch Kirill, a staunch Putin supporter.

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“Taking into account the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the defence minister of the Russian Federation to introduce… a ceasefire along the entire line of contact between the sides in Ukraine,” stated a Kremlin assertion.

It will run from noon Friday (0900 GMT), till the tip of Saturday (2100 GMT), the Kremlin stated.

Kyiv shortly denounced the transfer.

Russia “must leave the occupied territories — only then will it have a ‘temporary truce’,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter. “Keep hypocrisy to yourself.”

US President Joe Biden was equally dismissive of Putin’s announcement.

“He was ready to bomb hospitals and nurseries and churches” on December 25 and on New Year’s Day, he stated. “I think he’s trying to find some oxygen.”

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And British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly wrote on Twitter: “A 36 hour pause of Russian attacks will do nothing to advance the prospects for peace.”

– Orthodox Christmas –

Since the invasion started on February 24 final 12 months, Russia has occupied components of jap and southern Ukraine, however Kyiv has reclaimed swathes of its territory and this week claimed a New Year’s strike that killed scores of Moscow’s troops.

After votes that have been internationally branded as farces, Russia annexed the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson areas — regardless of not absolutely controlling them.

Putin is open to dialogue with Ukraine if Kyiv recognises “the new territorial realities”, stated the Kremlin, in a abstract of his phone dialog with Erdogan Thursday.

“The Russian side emphasised the destructive role of Western states, pumping the Kyiv regime with weapons and military equipment, providing it with operational information and targets,” it added.

The 76-year-old Patriarch Kirill has given his blessing to Russian troops combating in Ukraine and delivered closely anti-Western and anti-Kyiv sermons all through the battle.

Kirill made his ceasefire attraction “so that Orthodox people can attend services on Christmas Eve and on the day of the Nativity of Christ”, he stated on the church’s official web site Thursday.

The Kremlin’s choice to ship troops into Ukraine resulted in lots of clerics who had continued to stay loyal to Kirill turning away from Moscow.

In May, the Moscow-backed department of Ukraine’s Orthodox Church severed ties with Russia, citing his lack of condemnation of the combating.

– More arms for Ukraine –

News of Putin’s ceasefire order got here as Germany and the United States pledged to supply further navy assist for Kyiv, with Biden saying the promised gear comes at a “critical point” within the warfare.

Washington and Berlin stated in a joint assertion that they’ll respectively present Kyiv with Bradley and Marder infantry combating automobiles.

And “Germany will join the United States in supplying an additional Patriot air defence battery to Ukraine,” the assertion stated, doubling the variety of the superior techniques which have been promised to Kyiv.

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz has confronted renewed calls to ship Leopard gentle tanks, lengthy sought by Kyiv, after French President Emmanuel Macron introduced the supply of French-made AMX-10 RC gentle tanks to Ukraine.

Macron’s announcement on Wednesday made France the primary Western nation to announce the supply of such weapons to Ukraine.

– Worst single loss –

Putin’s ceasefire order got here a day after Moscow lifted its reported toll in its worst single reported loss from a Ukrainian strike to 89 useless.

Ukraine’s navy strategic communications unit has stated practically 400 Russian troopers died within the city of Makiivka in jap Ukraine, held by pro-Russian forces. Even Russian commentators have stated the loss of life toll could also be far greater than the Kremlin’s figures.

The lethal Makiivka strike got here after months of discontent inside Russia in the direction of the navy following a collection of battlefield defeats and a massively unpopular mobilisation drive.