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Russia has declared a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine. (archive image)
Chiara SchlenzEditor News
There is currently an official ceasefire in Ukraine – at least on the Russian side, hostilities have been suspended due to the Orthodox Christmas holidays. President Vladimir Putin (70) announced this on Thursday. What the Kremlin probably started as an attempt to portray itself as benevolent has been met with irritation in the Russian military blogger scene, as the American war research institute ISW writes.
The war correspondents, who decisively influence public opinion about the war in Russia and mostly report positively about the “special operation”, describe the 36-hour project as a ruse.
Russian bloggers angry at Kremlin
The former Russian secret service agent and separatist leader Igor Girkin (52) was outraged on Telegram: “Putin has taken such a bold and decisive step towards defeat and surrender in the current war.”
And the military blogger Boris Roshin, well-known in Russia, is also raging. “It is evident that despite the efforts of official propaganda in this matter, the decision will not be very popular.” According to the ISW, several military bloggers even claim that the Russian soldiers would not welcome such a ceasefire.
For example, using openly genocidal, dehumanizing rhetoric, one blogger wrote that Russian soldiers would not want compromise. They “want to kill any person in the uniform of the enemy army, regardless of gender and circumstances.” The researchers conclude: This hostility emanating from military bloggers, who usually agree with Putin’s line in the war, is remarkable and undermines Putin’s ability to portray Russia as a party willing to negotiate.
Vladlen Tatarsky, another prominent blogger, doesn’t think much of a ceasefire either – it shows weakness and was only staged for a Western audience. «People in the West fear and respect the bad Russians. But the dull friends of peace do not want to respect them. They want to kill her.”
Ceasefire not respected
The military bloggers also agree that Ukraine would probably use this ceasefire to strengthen its position and see this more as an invitation for an attack. And they should be right: during the unilaterally declared ceasefire for the Orthodox Christmas celebrations by Russia, Ukrainian soldiers opened fire on enemy positions in the Donetsk region.
“This is how they congratulate the occupiers on the upcoming Christmas!” the Ministry of Defense in Kyiv said on Friday on social networks. In the small town of Bakhmut, positions of the Russian troops were fired at with 120-millimeter mortar shells as a “gift”. “The resistance will continue until the last Russian invader on Ukrainian soil is killed!” the statement said.