Little let-up in fighting as Russia, Ukraine mark Orthodox Xmas

KYIV: Ukrainians and Russians on Saturday marked Orthodox Christmas under the shadow of war, as fighting persisted despite Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin unilaterally ordering his forces to pause attacks. Despite Putin’s ceasefire order war-scarred cities in eastern Ukraine saw no significant let-up in the fighting as AFP journalists in Chasiv Yar, south of the frontline city of Bakhmut, heard heavy artillery fire throughout much of Saturday morning.
The Russian defence ministry insisted on Saturday the army was observing the ceasefire but also said that it had repelled the Kyiv forces’ attacks in eastern Ukraine and killed dozens of soldiers on Friday. Ukrainian authorities said that three people were killed on Friday. In Moscow, 70-year-old Putin cut a lonely figure as he stood by himself at a service at a Kremlin church, the Cathedral of the Annunciation, to mark Orthodox Christmas.
In Kyiv, hundreds of worshippers on Saturday attended a historic service at the 11th century Kyiv Pechersk Lavra as Metropolitan Epifaniy, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, led a Christmas divine liturgy in the pro-Western country’s most signifiant Orthodox monastery. The service is expected to anger the Moscow Patriarchate. Located in the capital Kyiv, the monastery used to be the seat of a branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Chuch that was previously under Moscow’s jurisdiction but which severed ties after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Orthodox Christians observe Christmas on January 7. Ukrainian worshippers hailed the service led by the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. “We’ve waited for this shrine for a long time,” Veronika Martyniuk told AFP outside the church.