The Ukrainian presidency rejected the truce call made by the Russian Orthodox Church to stop the fighting during the Christmas period for Eastern Christians, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered to facilitate mediation for a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine, while Moscow threatened to use force against those who pose a threat to its security and announced that it had achieved progress in the war.
Adviser to Ukrainian President Mikhail Podolyak said that the Russian Orthodox Church is not an authority for the global Orthodoxy and that it advocates war on Ukraine.
The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Patriarch Kirill, had called on all parties to the conflict in Ukraine to declare a truce during the Christmas celebrations, allowing people to visit churches and perform their prayers.
Kirill called for a cease-fire from 12 noon on the sixth of this month until midnight on the seventh of this month.
For his part, Andrei Yarmak, advisor to the Ukrainian President, said that the peace plan put forward by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier, which mainly focuses on the withdrawal of Russian forces from all Ukrainian lands, including Crimea, is the only way to end the war between Ukraine and Russia.
And he added in a tweet on Twitter that the Russians, with time, have no choice but to withdraw their forces from Ukrainian lands or lose tens of thousands of their soldiers.
In the same context, the Turkish President called today on his Russian counterpart for a cease-fire in Ukraine, making it the latest in a series of calls issued throughout the Russian war against Ukraine.
According to the sources, Erdogan said in a call with his Ukrainian counterpart that he is ready to facilitate mediation for a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine.
In the field
On the field level, the Ukrainian Staff said that the Russian army launched a missile attack on the city of Bakhmut and its surroundings in Donbass province.
The Donbass region, made up of Luhansk and Donetsk, is the heart of Ukraine's industry, and parts of it were seized by Russian-backed separatists in 2014.
The Ukrainian military said that the Russians are focusing on an offensive in the Donetsk region of Bakhmut, but that their attacks in Avdiivka and Kobyansk have been unsuccessful.
The governor of the neighboring Luhansk region said Ukrainian forces were retaking territory there "step by step", but noted that it was "not happening quickly".
For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that its forces are making progress during offensive operations on the Donetsk axis, adding that the losses of Ukraine amounted to 60 soldiers.
Bakhmut lies on a strategic supply line between Donetsk and Luhansk. Control of the city, which had a pre-war population of between 70,000 and 80,000 and has dwindled to around 10,000 today, would give Russia a springboard to advance toward the two big cities of Kramatorsk and Slovansk.
The fighting there has been particularly fierce recently, with commanders on both sides describing it as a "meat grinder".
And the governor of Dnipro province, Valentin Reznichenko, announced the death of a civilian and the injury of others as a result of Russian bombing targeting the city of Nikopol, south of the province.
The governor of the province said that the Russian bombing targeted residential communities in the city, which were subjected to heavy artillery and missile barrages from the Russian forces.
The Ukrainian authorities of Zaporizhia also announced that 3 civilians were killed and 4 wounded in a new Russian bombing of a village in the province.
In turn, the Ukrainian forces stated that their missile units carried out what they described as accurate attacks targeting Russian forces gathering sites, weapons stores, and Russian air defense systems centers.
His Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, called for a unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine with the aim of supporting negotiations and peace.
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The Turkish President in contact with his Ukrainian counterpart: We are ready to facilitate mediation for a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine
The advisor to the Ukrainian President, Mikhail Podolyak, said that the Russian Orthodox Church is not an authority for the global Orthodoxy, and that it advocates war on Ukraine.
The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Patriarch Kirill, had called on all parties to the conflict in Ukraine to declare a truce during the Christmas celebrations, allowing people to visit churches and perform their prayers.
Kirill called for a cease-fire from twelve o'clock on the sixth of this month until midnight on the seventh of this month.
Dead and wounded in a new Russian bombing of Ukraine, and Russia threatens to use force against those who pose a threat to the country's security and announces progress in the war
Ukraine rejects the armistice proposed by the Russian Orthodox Church and Moscow threatens to use force against those who threaten its security and announces progress in the war
Dead and wounded in a new Russian bombing of Ukraine, and Moscow threatens to use force against those who pose a threat to its security and announces progress in the war
Ukraine rejects the truce proposed by the Russian Orthodox Church, the Turkish president offers mediation, and Moscow announces progress in the war