The United States said reports of continued shelling in eastern Ukraine on Friday showed that a ceasefire announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin to coincide with Orthodox Christmas was merely a "cynical" ploy to gain time. Earlier, Washington announced a new military assistance package for Ukraine worth an estimated 3 billion dollars, including the delivery of Bradley armoured vehicles. Read our live blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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10:38pm: US says Russian bombing proves assessment of ceasefire was correct
The United States said that strikes in eastern Ukraine on Friday showed that an Orthodox Christmas ceasefire announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin was a "cynical" ploy.
State Department spokesman Ned Price recalled that he had called the ceasefire "nothing but cynical" when Putin announced it Thursday. He told reporters: "I think that assessment has been borne out given what we've seen over the course of the day."
9:55pm: Zelensky says US Bradley vehicles 'exactly what is needed'
A US commitment to supply Kyiv with Bradley Fighting Vehicles for the first time is exactly what Ukraine needs, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said in a video address.
Zelenskiy said the formal announcement – part of a new $3 billion US weapons aid package for his country –showed his visit to Washington last month had produced concrete results.
"For the first time we will receive Bradley armoured vehicles – this is exactly what is needed," Zelenskiy said, thanking US President Joe Biden and the US Congress.
Zelensky – who has been pressing allies relentlessly to send more weapons – also thanked Germany, which will send Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicles and a Patriot air-defence battery.
"So, as of now, there are more air defence systems, more armoured vehicles, western tanks – which is a first – more cannons and shells ... and all this means more protection for Ukrainians and all Europeans against any kind of Russian terror," he said.
9:25pm: Who is Putin's ally Kirill, patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church?
A powerful ally of President Vladimir Putin, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has embraced the rhetoric of the mediaeval crusades in urging support for Moscow's offensive in eastern Ukraine.
Kirill has called on believers to support pro-Russian "brothers" during Moscow's offensive in eastern Ukraine. In a sermon in September, he said that dying in Ukraine "washes away all sins".
FRANCE 24's Ethan Hajji and Charli James have more.
7:35pm: US announces $3 billion in military assistance for Ukraine
The United States has announced a further 3 billion dollars in military assistance for Ukraine, a package the White House said will feature Bradley armored vehicles.
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the assistance, which will be detailed later by the Pentagon, is also expected to include armored personnel carriers and self-propelled howitzers.
The armored Bradley Fighting Vehicle has a powerful gun and has been used regularly by the US Army to carry troops around battlefields since the mid-1980s.
The package is also expected to include Sea Sparrow missiles to bolster Ukraine's air defences, according to a document seen by Reuters.
6:40pm: On the ground with Ukrainian volunteers guarding the border with Belarus
Russia has been building up its forces in Belarus since last October, shifting units that were beaten back by Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the east and south. The build-up has heightened fears that Moscow is planning to use Belarus as a launch pad for a fresh offensive – as it did at the start of the war in February 2022.
This time, however, Ukraine's Territorial Defence Forces say they are ready to face down any attack.
FRANCE 24’s Mélina Huet and Luke Shrago met Ukrainian volunteers in the Zhytomyr region who are preparing for a Russian assault.
6:05pm: 'Paid extras' for Putin's photo ops?
Social media users have noted that the same blonde woman has appeared behind Russian President Vladimir Putin on three different occasions – proof, they say, that he used “paid extras” during his address marking the start of 2023.
However, FRANCE 24's Observers have found that the images do feature different women. One is a soldier who was given a prize by Putin on December 31, 2022 while the two other images show a regional deputy (local politician) from Novgorod, and a supporter of the Russian president.
Click here for the full story.
5:10pm: Ukraine reclaims Kyiv cathedral amid church dispute
The Ukrainian government has reclaimed the main cathedral of a Russian-backed monastery in Kyiv and allowed the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) to use it for Orthodox Christmas services.
The move comes as Russia's war in Ukraine has exacerbated long-running tensions between the OCU and its rival, the Russian-backed Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
Ukraine's Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said Thursday that the Dormition Cathedral and the Refectory Church of the nearly 1,000-year-old Pechersk Lavra – also known as Monastery of the Caves – had been taken over by the state after a lease held by the UOC expired on December 31.
On Friday, Tkachenko said the OCU was granted permission to conduct the service at the cathedral on Saturday, when Orthodox Christmas is celebrated.
4:40pm: US sanctions target suppliers of Iranian drones to Russia
The United States has issued new sanctions targeting suppliers of Iranian drones that Washington says are being used to destroy civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
The US Treasury Department in a statement said it imposed sanctions on six executives and board members of Qods Aviation Industries (QAI), also known as Light Airplanes Design and Manufacturing Industries, describing the company as a key defence manufacturer responsible for the design and production of drones.
“We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to deny Putin the weapons that he is using to wage his barbaric and unprovoked war on Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in the statement.
Also designated on Friday was the director of Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization, which the Treasury said is the key organisation responsible for overseeing Iran's ballistic missile programs.
4:27pm: Can we call this a ceasefire?
Russia's unilateral ceasefire, which Ukraine has dismissed as a cynical ploy to gain time, was supposed to come into force along the entire front line this morning. However, there have been reports of continued fighting, with Ukraine accusing Russia of rocket attacks and shelling of cities and military positions.
FRANCE 24's international affairs editor Angela Diffley brings us the latest.
3:15pm: 'Cynical' Russian ceasefire 'should deceive no-one', says France
Russia’s decision to declare a 36-hour ceasefire to mark the Orthodox Christmas is a “crude attempt” to hide its responsibility for the suffering of Ukrainian civilians and “further evidence” of its “cynicism”, France’s Foreign Ministry has said.
The truce announced on Thursday by Russian President Vladimir Putin was supposed to take effect at 09:00 GMT on Friday, but doubts persist about a real lull in the fighting.
Moscow’s unilateral move “should deceive no-one”, said a spokeswoman for the French foreign minister, stressing that a “fair and lasting peace cannot happen without a total withdrawal of Russian troops from all Ukrainian territory.”
The spokeswoman added: “This announcement is a crude attempt by Russia to hide its responsibility, while it continues to multiply abuses and relentless bombing throughout the Ukrainian territory, targeting in particular, in the middle of winter, critical facilities and civilians.”
1:41pm: Germany to send Ukraine 40 armoured vehicles by spring
Germany will supply Ukraine with around 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles within weeks as part of a new phase of support coordinated with the US, a government spokesman said on Friday.
US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Thursday that both their countries will send powerfully armed infantry fighting vehicles to help Ukraine repel Russia's invasion. The United States will supply Bradleys – which usually come armed with 25 mm autocannon, a 7.62 mm machine-gun and anti-tank missiles – while Germany will send Marders, they said.
German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Friday said around 40 Marders would be sent, or enough to equip a battalion. "These 40 vehicles are to be ready in the first quarter so that they can then be handed over to Ukraine," he said, adding that training for Ukrainian soldiers to use the vehicles would be provided in Germany.
1:40pm: Russia says troops observing ceasefire, accuses Ukraine of shelling
The Russian army said Friday it was abiding by a temporary unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine from 10am, as decreed by President Vladimir Putin, and accused Ukrainian troops of shelling. "Despite Russian forces respecting a ceasefire as of 12:00pm on January 6, the Kyiv regime continued artillery fire on population centres and Russian army positions," the defence ministry said on social media.
The Russian defence ministry said that its positions had come under attack in the Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, but that its troops were observing the ceasefire. "Four mortar shells were fired at Russian positions by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the direction of Lyman," it said. But Moscow's claims could not be independently verified.
11:59am: Ukraine reports fresh Russian strikes after announced ceasefire
Russian forces struck the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine on Friday, the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential administration said, after the supposed start of a unilateral Russian ceasefire. "The occupiers hit the city with rockets twice," Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on social media, adding that a residential building had been hit but there were no victims.
If confirmed, this would be the second city to be shelled after the start of Moscow's unilateral ceasefire.
11:45am: Artillery fire heard in both sides of frontline Ukrainian city of Bakhmut despite announced Russian ceasefire
AFP journalists heard both outgoing and incoming shelling in the frontline city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine on Friday after 11am when a Russian ceasefire was supposed to have come into effect. The artillery fire was lighter than it has been in recent days and the streets of the largely bombed-out city were mostly empty except for military vehicles.
Right before Moscow’s announcement of the ceasefire, a senior Ukraine official said that Moscow's forces had struck the southern city of Kherson in an attack that left several people dead or wounded. "There were at least four explosions ... They talk about a ceasefire. This is who we are at war with," said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the presidential administration.
He did not say whether the strikes themselves had occurred before or after the ceasefire's start time
10:50am: Train carrying Russian troops arrives in Belarus as President Lukashenko visits military base, Minsk says
A train carrying Russian troops and equipment has arrived in Belarus, Minsk's defence ministry said on Friday. The same ministry also said on Friday Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko visited a military base where Russian troops are stationed.
Belarus, which is closely allied with Moscow, said on Thursday it would receive more weapons and equipment from Russia as the two boost their military cooperation. This has raised concern that Belarus could be used as a staging post to attack Ukraine from the north.
During his visit to a military base, Lukashenko and an unnamed representative from the Russian army discussed the two countries' joint military drills, the ministry said. "At this stage, units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are ready to carry out tasks as intended," the representative said.
10:20am: Putin's unilateral ceasefire comes into force in Ukraine
A unilateral Russian ceasefire ordered by President Vladimir Putin has come into force along the entire front as of noon Moscow time (10am Paris time), Russian state television said. "At noon today, the ceasefire regime came into force on the entire contact line," Russia's state First Channel said. "It will continue until the end of January 7."
The ceasefire, dismissed by Ukraine as an empty gesture and an attempt by Moscow to gain time to regroup its forces, is due to last until 10pm on Saturday.
04:09am: US weapons package for Ukraine includes 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles
A new US weapons package for Ukraine will include about 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, two US officials said on Thursday, with one of the officials saying the package will be worth roughly $2.8 billion.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden said that sending the Bradleys, a US Army staple, to Ukraine was being considered to help fight Russia's invasion. Russia's ambassador accused the United States of plotting a "dangerous course".
On the decision to send Bradleys, Russia's ambassador in Washington, Anatoly Antonov urged Washington to consider the "possible consequences of such a dangerous course".
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
