Home › Opinion › Was the Orthodox Christmas ceasefire ever real?
Was the Orthodox Christmas ceasefire ever real?
Summary
A look back at 6 January 2023, when a declared Russian truce coincided with shelling in Kramatorsk and a deadly missile strike in Kherson.
Did a unilateral ceasefire change anything on the ground on 6 January 2023? The reports from that day suggest it did not.
The truce had been announced the previous evening. On 5 January, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a unilateral ceasefire for 6–7 January, linked to Orthodox Christmas under the Julian calendar. He acted on a suggestion from Patriarch Kirill of Moscow. As later described, Putin instructed Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to declare a 36-hour pause along the whole line of contact, running from midday on 6 January to midnight on 7 to 8 January.
Ukraine rejected an offer to respond with a mutual ceasefire, citing lack of trust. That left a truce declared by one side only, and on 6 January the front-line reports showed little sign of calm.
Shelling continued
In Kramatorsk, a front-line city, Russian forces shelled the area and damaged at least fourteen homes, according to the city's mayor. No casualties were reported. Officials of the Donetsk People's Republic, for their part, accused Ukraine of shelling Donetsk with artillery.
In the south, a Russian missile struck near a fire station in Kherson. The strike killed one person and injured four others, according to regional official Yaroslav Yanushevych.
Taken together, the day's reports describe continued fire on both sides of the line, within hours of a ceasefire that was meant to be in force.
The wider backdrop
The truce proposal also arrived alongside decisions on military aid. On 5 January, the United States and Germany agreed to send Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine. Germany also said it would supply a MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system.
The sequence is worth recalling. Within roughly a day, Moscow had announced a pause, Kyiv had declined to reciprocate, and Western capitals had committed new armoured vehicles and air defence. On 6 January itself, the fighting reported in Kramatorsk, Donetsk and Kherson continued, and residents of those places experienced the day under fire rather than under a truce.
