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Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Russian forces shelled Ukraine cities Friday morning in the hours leading up to a unilateral 36-hour cease-fire Russian President Vladimir Putin declared for Orthodox Christmas. The cease-fire for Friday and Saturday was proposed by the Moscow patriarch of the Orthodox Church, Kirill, but Ukrainian officials dismissed the cease-fire as a ploy.
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"At noon today, the cease-fire regime came into force on the entire contact line. It will continue until the end of 7 Jan.," Russian state television said Friday.
Prior to the cease-fire, Russian shelling damaged 14 buildings in Kramatorsk on Friday, according to Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko. Russian bombardment struck a fire station in the recently liberated city of Kherson, killing one rescuer, according to local officials.
The Russian Ministry of Defense accused Ukraine of violating the cease-fire. "The Kiev regime continued artillery strikes on settlements and positions of Russian troops," the ministry said Friday.
Air raid alerts were issued across much of Ukraine on Friday. While no airstrikes were reported immediately after the cease-fire was to take effect, commentators have suggested the warnings could have been triggered by the takeoff of Russian aircraft in Belarus.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko visited Russian troops at one of their bases in the country on Friday, according to the Belarusian Ministry of Defense.
Ukraine's First Minister of Foreign Affairs Emine Dzheppar tweeted images of damage she said was caused by Russian bombardment in the city of Kurakhove in Donetsk region.
"These are repercussions of Russian attack Kurakhove, Donetsk region. The occupiers shelled residential buildings and a private house. One person was injured and local hospital's department damaged. Those are Russia's so-called military targets," she tweeted.
On Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz agreed to send Ukraine armored combat fighting vehicles.
