Ukraine hails ‘powerful’ US aid package as Putin praises Orthodox Church for war support

Ukraine has hailed Washington’s multibillion-pound package of military aid as “exactly what is needed”, as Russian president Vladimir Putin praised the Orthodox Church in Moscow for its support of his war.

The package saw Volodymyr Zelensky’s pleas for Bradley fighting vehicles answered, and as millions in his country celebrated Orthodox Christmas, hopes were further raised for Ukraine’s war efforts. United States officials announced that Kyiv’s troops would begin training to use Patriot missile defence systems this month, possibly on US soil.

But despite the Russian president ordering a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine during the festive holiday, as proposed by the Orthodox Church’s top bishop, both sides accused each other of continuing heavy fire against troops and civilians alike.

Kyiv, which had labelled the ceasefire “a cynical trap”, alleged that at least three civilians were killed and 14 injured in Russian attacks across six regions, with aid workers said to be among the wounded.

But as the harsh echoes of shelling and air-raid sirens rang in the ears of both Russians and Ukrainians across the border trampled by his army in February, Mr Putin began his Christmas stood alone at a quiet midnight service in a Kremlin cathedral.

Kremlin-issued footage showed the president surrounded only by gold-clad priests and crossing himself multiple times during a service at the Cathedral of the Annunciation where, for centuries, Russian tsars and their families confessed their sins.

In an accompanying message, describing Christmas as inspiring “good deeds and aspirations”, Mr Putin made it clear he viewed the Orthodox Church as a stabilising force for Russia in a period he has increasingly cast as defined by a near-existential clash with an aggressive West.

Hailing its “massive, complex and truly selfless work” in supporting Moscow’s forces in Ukraine, the president also praised the “enormous” contribution of the church “in unifying society, preserving our historical memory, educating youth and strengthening the institution of family”.

His words came as Moscow’s ongoing attempts to tighten its grip on occupied parts of Ukraine were highlighted by allegations from Kyiv on Saturday regarding Zaporizhzhia, one of four Ukrainian regions that Mr Putin sought to illegally annexe using sham referendums in September.

Ukraine’s armed forces alleged that some 3,000 Ukrainians working at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant – Europe’s largest – had been forced to obtain Russian passports.

Kyiv also claimed that in Enerhodar – the city surrounding the facility – the Ukrainian hryvnia had been taken out of circulation “by threatening entrepreneurs with fines and confiscation of property”.

Both such moves have previously been condemned by the European Union as a “flagrant violation” of Ukrainian sovereignty, and Kyiv’s military also warned of a “significant increase” in the number of homes in the city either seized by Putin’s troops or abandoned by residents forcibly deported to Russia.

Further east, fighting continued as usual on the Donbas frontline, notably near Bakhmut and the town of Kremina, according to the British Ministry of Defence. Ukraine’s armed forces warned that the threat of Russian attacks remained high across the country – detailing shelling and assaults in six provinces.

Yet Mr Zelensky struck a triumphant tone as he praised the “very powerful” £3.1bn military aid package announced by the White House on Friday.

“For the first time, we will get Bradley armoured vehicles – this is exactly what is needed. New guns and rounds, including high-precision ones, new rockets, new drones. It is timely and strong,” Ukraine’s president said in his nightly video address.

He thanked president Joe Biden and “all the Americans who appreciate freedom ... and who heard Ukraine during my visit to Washington”, as well as German chancellor Olaf Scholz for his pledge to follow the US in sending Ukraine a Patriot missile system.

While Moscow has threatened “consequences” if Washington supplies Kyiv with its most advanced air defence system, Mr Biden’s reticence to do so appears to have been more a result of the considerable training needed to operate and maintain the expensive weapons.

But the US defence department said on Saturday that its armed forces would begin training Ukrainian troops on the missile system later in January – an effort it foresees taking “several months”.

The Pentagon said that Washington was considering either training Ukrainians in the US, overseas or in “a combination of both”.

Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters: “I think clearly we’re at a point in this battle where we’re going to be able to provide that kind of training to enable Ukraine to sustain those kinds of systems so that they can focus on defending their country and taking back territory.”

Meanwhile, millions of Ukrainians scattered across Europe by Russia’s war spent Christmas separated from their homes, and in many cases their loved ones.

“We can only pray for peace and that we finally have the opportunity to return home,” Victoria, a 40-year-old who lives near Warsaw after fleeing Irpin with her son in March, told Reuters.

Although the Russian Orthodox Church’s backing for Moscow’s war has splintered the worldwide church and caused many Ukrainian adherents to celebrate on 25 December in protest, many have continued with the Orthodox tradition – with some alterations.

In Kyiv’s 1,000-year-old Lavra Cathedral, hundreds of worshippers heard the service in the Ukrainian language for the first time in decades, in a demonstration of independence from the Russian Orthodox Church.

“It’s a first victory” for Ukraine, Oksana Abu-Akel, who hailed it as a significant step in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s efforts to cut ties with Russia, told the Associated Press. “This is the first time in 300 years that there is really our own service here. Every person feels this joy. It is a victory for all Ukrainians.”