The ceasefire, scheduled to start at 12:00 Moscow time (09:00 GMT), will coincide with the Russian Orthodox Christmas. Patriarch Kirill had, earlier in the day, called for a Christmas truce to allow believers to attend church services for Orthodox Christmas. The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas Day on 7 January, according to the Julian calendar. Defying Russian onslaught in city 'at the end of the world'The Russian Orthodox Church is by far the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches, but there are others. The church split with the similarly named Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in 2018.

Source: The Star January 06, 2023 17:43 UTC