Russia declared a unilateral ceasefire for Orthodox Christmas which runs until tomorrow:

January 6, 2023
Moscow is accusing Ukrainian front-lines of unleashing fresh shelling on Russian forces, hours into the ceasefire:
Russia says Ukraine is shelling Russian military positions during a 36-hour ceasefire, which Kyiv and its allies have dismissed as a sham.
The Russian defence ministry said its positions had come under attack in the Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhia 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.
Ukraine’s leadership had already essentially said it doesn’t plan to respect the ceasefire, calling it a “cynical ploy”. Western countries had on Thursday dismissed it when it was first unveiled by Putin, starting with Germany and the US. …
Russian state media on Friday announced, “At noon today, the ceasefire regime came into force on the entire contact line,” according to national broadcaster Channel One. “It will continue until the end of January 7.”
The 36-hour ceasefire was initially urged by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, before hours later being officially ordered by Putin, but which was swiftly rejected by both Kiev and Washington as a “cynical ploy” and “trap” – which they fear will allow Russian forces to regroup.
However, the Russian side described that it is to allow Orthodox believers to attend Christmas church services, which in the Eastern Orthodox Slavic lands falls on Jan.6th (Christmas Eve) through Jan.7th.
Still, Ukrainian authorities are urging citizens in occupied areas to not attend church services today or tomorrow on fears that attack on places of worship will occur. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/putins-unilateral-christmas-ceasefire-holding-ukraine-warns-false-flag-attack-churches

In other military matters in that region, notice the following:

UK: Luhansk and Donetsk Formally Integrated into Russian Armed Forces
January 6, 2023
“Militias from the Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) and Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) were formally integrated into the Russian armed forces on 31 December 2022,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said Friday in its update on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, posted on Twitter.
Luhansk and Donetsk are both internationally recognized as being part of Ukraine.
However, Russia “claims the LNR and DNR as intrinsic parts of the Russian Federation following the fixed accession referendums of September 2022,” the ministry said. In addition, Russia “has discreetly controlled both since 2014, creating DNR’s 1st Army Corps and LNR’s 2nd Army Corps and supporting them with Russian military officers.”
“The status and identities of the DNR and LNR likely remain divisive within the Russian system. Even before the February 2022 invasion, these territories represented a significant drain on Russian finances,” the British Defense Ministry said. “Now the Kremlin has overtly committed to supporting them, they will likely constitute a large political, diplomatic and financial cost for Russia which will last well beyond the current phase of the conflict.”
Meanwhile, the United States will send 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine as part of a new round of military aid to Kyiv, two defense officials tell VOA. …
Orthodox Christmas cease-fire
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered a 36-hour cease-fire in his war against Ukraine over the Orthodox Christmas holiday.
He ordered Russian troops to stop attacks for a day and a half on its neighboring country starting at noon Friday, the Kremlin said. Many Orthodox Christians, including those living in Russia and Ukraine, celebrate Christmas on Jan. 6 and 7.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a supporter of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, called on Thursday for both sides of the war in Ukraine to observe a Christmas truce. But the Kyiv government dismissed it as “hypocrisy” and a cynical trap, and Ryder also expressed skepticism.
“While Russia seems to be pretty good at exporting violence, they don’t seem to be pretty good at exporting the truth. And so we’ll see,” Ryder said in response to a question from VOA.
In an order, Putin said, “Proceeding from the fact that a large number of citizens professing Orthodoxy live in the areas of hostilities, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a cease-fire and allow them to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on Christmas Day.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to Ukraine’s president, characterized the Russian Orthodox Church as a “war propagandist” that had incited the “mass murder” of Ukrainians and the militarization of Russia. https://www.voanews.com/a/uk-luhansk-and-donetsk-formally-integrated-into-russian-armed-forces-/6906874.html
January 6, 2023
Don’t believe the incessant U.S. government and media propaganda about Ukraine. Ukraine is not winning the war; they are losing badly.
But wait, hasn’t the news been talking up Ukrainian gains in recent months, while Russia is retreating and being badly beaten? That’s the mainstream, pro-Ukrainian narrative. Here’s the reality:
Most of the Ukrainian gains were against lightly defended positions that the Russians quickly abandoned because they were not worth fighting to defend.
Those Russian troops (really Donbas militias) were ordered to retreat to fortified Russian lines while Ukrainian forces rushing to fill the void were slaughtered by Russian artillery bombardments.
Most people think of war in terms of territory. If you lose territory, it must mean you’re losing the war. But it’s not always that simple.
The Russian Strategy
The Russians will willingly cede territory in order to fight again at a later time under more favorable circumstances. They’ll simply retake it when the terms favor them. They’re not primarily concerned about the territory per se. The primary Russian objective is to grind down and destroy the Ukrainian armed forces.
And if the Ukrainians want to keep hurling themselves against Russian positions in order to recapture land and score a propaganda coup, that’s fine with the Russians. They’ll just grind the attacking forces down with heavy artillery fire (artillery kills far more people in war than bullets or bombs).
And despite Ukrainian government claims, the best intelligence says Russia is presently enjoying an 8–10:1 casualty rate. In other words, Russia is inflicting eight–10 casualties on Ukraine for every casualty it’s suffering.
That kind of ratio isn’t sustainable for Ukraine.
Russia Prepares to Lower the Boom on Ukraine
Meanwhile, Russia has reinforced its positions with 300,000 or more fresh troops (about 30 divisions) who are rested and resupplied. That’s in addition to the number of troops already in Ukraine.
Evidence indicates they’re backed by at least 1,500 tanks, 5,000 armored fighting vehicles, 1,000 rocket artillery systems, hundreds of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters plus thousands of tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones. …
Putin … believed that the “special military operation” would tell Kyiv and Washington that Russia was serious about enforcing its red lines in Ukraine, that it was willing to use force.
But he thought his show of force would bring them to the negotiating table.
He badly miscalculated.
Rather than bring Kyiv and Washington to the negotiating table, they resolved to aggressively defend Ukraine.
Russia’s ill-prepared forces were pushed back and routed in many instances. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/rickards-time-get-real-about-ukraine

That said, the integration of the militaries of those in Donetsk and Luhansk is consistent with what I have long expected and written about.

For nearly a decade, many in the Donbas region have called for Russia to defend and/or annex them.

Here are parts of three items posted here in 2014:

Russia is moving forward with its plans and Vladimir Putin is taking steps to make his hoped for Eurasian Union a reality. I am certain that he would as much of Ukraine as he can get (he wants all of it), and must be pleased that Donetsk wants to vote to join Russia. (Thiel B. Russian forces storm Ukraine bases in Crimea and residents of Donetsk take to the streets calling for a vote to join Russia; cruise missile threat to USA? COGwriter, March 22, 2014)
Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine, to influence, dominate, and ultimately control. He is repeatedly taking steps in order to increase Russian influence there.
As far as how it will ultimately end, that is not impossible to predict. The Bible tells of the rise of a European Beast power and a Eurasian power.
Ukraine is geographically in the middle of that.
Some/much of Ukraine will likely temporarily align with the European power. Even Russia appears prophesied to cooperate with it for some time (cf. Revelation 13:4,8).
The historian Herodotus claimed that there were six different tribes/families of Medes.
Herodotus identified the tribes of the Medes as Busae, Parataceni/Paratakeni, Struchates/Strukhates, Arizanti, Budii, and the Magi (Herodotus: A New and Literal Version with a Geographical and General Index by Henry Cary. Histories, book 1, chapter 101. Translated by Henry Cary. Harper, 1896. Original from the University of Virginia, Digitized Jan 23, 2009, p. 46).
Some of the Russians themselves appear to have been from the Medes. Notice the following:
Today the people who constituted the empire of the Medes may be found in western Russia, specifically the Ukraine and Volhynia. (White C. The Great German Nation: Origins and Destiny. AuthorHouse, 2007, p. 285)
But how are we to explain the name Russia? The old-fashioned view was to derive the word from the Rhoxolani. This, however, has long been abandoned. One thing is certain, namely, that these Rhoxolani were of Oriental descent, a Medic or Iranic tribe. They disappear from history, having, like so many other tribes — as, for instance, the Pechenegs and the Khozars—been swallowed up by the huge waves of immigration which overflowed the country (Morfill WR. Russia. Published 1890 by T.F. Unwin, London).
There are many disputes among academics as to who derived from whom, thus it is not completely clear, for example, that the Rhoxolani were Medes who went to Russia.
The Bible has several end time prophecies concerning the Medes (Isaiah 13:17-19) and the kings of the Medes (Jeremiah 51:11, 28-29) that involve military action and point to Russian involvement (Jeremiah 50:41-43; Daniel 11:44).
Various ones in Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Russia, and elsewhere are part of the descendants of the Medes, as likely are some in Moldova and perhaps elsewhere.
If the Rhoxolani were Medes, then it would seem to be consistent with certain biblical prophecies.
While some/many in Ukraine descended from the Medes, so have some/many in Russia.
The Bible shows that those who are the “kings of the Medes” will turn against the final European Babylonian power:
11 Make the arrows bright!
Gather the shields!
The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes.
For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it,
Because it is the vengeance of the Lord,
The vengeance for His temple.
12 Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon;
Make the guard strong,
Set up the watchmen,
Prepare the ambushes.
For the Lord has both devised and done
What He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. (Jeremiah 51:11-12)
28 Prepare against her the nations,With the kings of the Medes,Its governors and all its rulers,All the land of his dominion. 29 And the land will tremble and sorrow;For every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon,To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant. 30 The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting,They have remained in their strongholds;Their might has failed,They became like women;They have burned her dwelling places,The bars of her gate are broken. 31 One runner will run to meet another,And one messenger to meet another,To show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides; 32 The passages are blocked,The reeds they have burned with fire,And the men of war are terrified.
33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor When it is time to thresh her;Yet a little while And the time of her harvest will come.” (Jeremiah 51:28-33)
Historically, the old Worldwide Church of God believed that many in Ukraine descended from Madia (see Countries and Their Biblical Names ), the Medes. Various Russians are also descendents of Madia.
Barack Obama, the President of the USA, while encouraging sanctions, has repeatedly said the USA will not intervene militarily:
President Barack Obama again ruled out U.S. military action, saying there must be a diplomatic solution. But he said he would reaffirm U.S. commitment to NATO allies in the region at a summit next week.
“We are not taking military action to solve the Ukrainian problem. What we’re doing is to mobilize the international community to apply pressure on Russia,” he told reporters at the White House. https://bangordailynews.com/2014/08/28/news/world-news/obama-us-will-seek-diplomatic-resolution-not-military-action-to-russian-intervention-in-ukraine/
Russia, the Europeans, and the Ukrainians know this. (Thiel B. Vladimir Putin points to statehood for eastern Ukraine; Six tribes of the Medes. COGwriter, August 31, 2014)
As the USA has its own elections, the West and the United Nations has condemned the elections in Donetsk and Luhansk/Lugansk …
Russia is pleased with the results of the elections in eastern Ukraine. Russia is attempting to figure out how to best handle this. In my view, while Russia does have some concerns about the West and sanctions, it really is trying to figure out how to get the public in eastern Ukraine and Moldova on its side.
Part of the reason for that is because Russia wants more and more nations to support its upcoming Eurasian Union. The Bible itself tells of a type of Eurasian confederation (Jeremiah 50:41-42; Revelation 16:12-14) as well as a confederation of the “kings of the Medes” (Jeremiah 51:11,28). Russia wants both to form.
Here is one view of the recent history of the Donetsk movement:
The Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR or LNR) (Russian: Луганская народная республика, Luganskaya narodnaya respublika) is a self-proclaimed state in eastern Ukraine, bordering the Russian Federation, the (also self-proclaimed) Donetsk People’s Republic, and Ukraine itself. Following the Euromaidan protest movement and the impeachment of President Viktor Yanukovich in the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, local Antimaidan and pro-Russian protests intensified, culminating in the proclamation of the Lugansk People’s Republic on 27 April 2014. The authorities of the Republic later held a referendum on 11 May to seek legitimacy for the proclamation, and subsequently declared independence on 12 May 2014. On 24 May 2014, the self-proclaimed government agreed to a merger with the Donetsk People’s Republic into an unrecognized confederation known as the Federal State of Novorossiya. The Republic is recognised only by South Ossetia, which itself only has limited international recognition. Ukraine classifies the Republic as a terrorist organisation.
The northern part of Luhansk Oblast, which is predominantly Ukrainian-speaking, has remained under Ukrainian control. Although the LPR lost control of much of the Oblast, and currently control less than half of their territorial claim, the Ukrainian government estimates that 64.4% of the population of the Oblast (about a million and a half) live under separatist rule. (Lugansk People’s Republic, Wikipedia, viewed 11/03/14)
It appears that the DPR wants to basically be independent, wants Kiev-related troops to go away, wants to make its own economic deals, and probably will want to either officially join Russia or at least join its upcoming Eurasian Union.
(As I have mentioned before, biblically, because of prophecies involving the Medes (Jeremiah 51:11-32), some of which are in Ukraine, and those in the “north and east” in Daniel 11:44, it would seem that Russia would be closer to at least parts of Ukraine (like some of the eastern portions of it) in the end than many realize. (Thiel B. West condemns Donetsk and Luhansk elections; USA holds its own election that some wonder where it will lead to. COGwriter, November 4, 2014)

Earlier in 2022, just prior to Russia’s ‘special military operation’ into Ukraine, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

21:20
Russia, Ukraine, Babylonian Europe, and Prophecy
The situation between Russia and Ukraine has again heated up, although it has been tense since the Euromaiden protests and Russia’s annexation of Crimea. There was later a separation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Russian Orthodox Church. Is war prophesied for Russia and Ukraine? Are prophecies in the Bible associated with the ‘kings of the Medes’ and a power from the “north country” related to any in Russia and Ukraine? Is a confederation of powers from the north, east, and central Asia prophesied to destroy the coming end time European Babylon? Will the destruction be reminiscent of what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah? How is the King of the North and who will destroy him? Do those in Russia and Ukraine have a hope of salvation? Will Russia and powers of the east be involved in the gathering in Armageddon as prophesied in Revelation 16? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues.

Here is a link to our video: Russia, Ukraine, Babylonian Europe, and Prophecy.

Ultimately, irrespective of how things may temporarily turn out on the battlefield, at least parts of Ukraine are going to align with Russia as that is consistent with numerous prophecies in the Old Testament.

Russia in the Bible and in Prophecy

Is Russia the King of the North?

Russia, Iran, Syria, & the Bible (Code)

Ezekiel 38 Gog and Magog War: Is it Soon?

Gog, Magog, Vladimir Putin, and Ezekiel 38?

'Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America?’

Multi-part sermon series based on the free online book above:

Part 1: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA

Part 2: Lost Tribes, Prophecies, And Identifications

Part 3: 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes

Part 4: Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty

Part 5: Gentile European Beast