Ukraine hails 'powerful' US aid package as Putin praises church for backing his war

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.

- ANDY GREGORY

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.