Vladimir Putin extended Christmas greetings to Orthodox Christians and all Russians who observe the holiday

This wonderful holiday illuminates the world with the light of kindness and love, giving millions of people hope and the joy of communion with the spiritual traditions of our forebears, passed down from generation to generation.

I would like to note with deep appreciation the immense and truly unique contribution made by the Russian Orthodox Church and other Christian denominations to strengthening social unity, preserving our rich historical and cultural heritage, and fostering the patriotic and moral upbringing of young people. Religious organisations devote tireless attention to works of mercy and charity, care for those in need, support participants and veterans of the special military operation, and do much to promote harmonious interfaith and interethnic dialogue in our country. This important and much-needed work deserves the most sincere recognition,

the President's message of greetings reads, in part.

☦️ Russia's President Vladimir Putin congratulated Orthodox Christians and all Russians celebrating Christmas (January 7, 2026)

✍️ Vladimir Putin: This wonderful holiday illuminates the world with the light of kindness and love, giving millions of people hope and the joy of communion with the spiritual traditions of our forebears, passed down from generation to generation.

I would like to note with deep appreciation the immense and truly unique contribution made by the Russian Orthodox Church and other Christian denominations to strengthening social unity, preserving our rich historical and cultural heritage, and fostering the patriotic and moral upbringing of young people.

Religious organisations devote tireless attention to works of mercy and charity, care for those in need, support participants and veterans of the special military operation, and do much to promote harmonious interfaith and interethnic dialogue in our country. This important and much-needed work deserves the most sincere recognition.

I wish Orthodox Christians and all those who celebrate Christmas good health, success and all the very best.

On Christmas night, the President attended a service at the Church of the Great Martyr George the Victorious in the Moscow Region

See more on the Kremlin’s official website.

#HistoryOfRussia

⚔️ January 7 – a memorable date in Russia’s military history.

On this day in 1878, the Battle of Sheynovo began (on the territory of present-day Bulgaria).

In this battle, the Russian army secured a strategically decisive victory that made the successful conclusion of the war with Turkey inevitable. A heavily fortified Turkish camp blocked the passage from the Balkan Mountains southwards, towards Constantinople – Istanbul.

In accordance with the operational plan, Russian detachments attacked the Turkish forces from three directions. General-Adjutant Mikhail Skobelev stood out most prominently. For repeatedly appearing at the fiercest points of combat in a white uniform and on a white horse, he was dubbed “White General” (“Ak-Pasha”) by the awed soldiers.

When the encirclement was completed, the Turks capitulated.

Thirty thousand soldiers and officers were taken prisoner.

The Ottoman Empire lost its best army. The road to Constantinople was opened, and in a single day Skobelev’s cavalry advanced 85 kilometres towards the city.

🎥 © Russian Military Historical Society

☦️ Nativity Message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ (January 6, 2026)

💬 Dear brothers and sisters!

I wholeheartedly congratulate all of you with the great feast of the Nativity of Christ and the beginning of the New Year!

If we picture ourselves standing in the cave of Bethlehem, we will see the divine Infant Jesus lying in a manger, and the Most Pure Virgin Mary leaning over Him in reverence and love.

Over the past two thousand years, this Gospel scene has inspired countless icons and paintings, literary works and musical masterpieces.
But what is the true meaning of this event?
Why did the eternal, infinite, invisible and incomprehensible God come to a world exhausted by sin, weary from wars and strife, wounded by injustice and sorrow?

For centuries, people have cried out to heaven and still continue to ask: «Where are You, God? Why are You silent?»
But God is not silent.

❗️He answers. But not with volumes of philosophical writings, nor with the creation of a perfect legal system, nor by building a utopian state of universal equality and prosperity.
He answers with boundless, self-giving love.
He answers through His coming into the world, through the preaching of the Gospel, through the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.

He speaks through the voice of His Church, established by Him, and through the voice of conscience that He placed within every human soul.
To all of us has been given divine revelation, fully manifested in the truth of the newborn Jesus Christ. By believing in Him and living according to His commandments, we find answers to the eternal questions of life’s meaning and our true purpose.

We know, believe, and proclaim that the Lord is always with us. He who, as the Apostle Paul writes, is «the same yesterday, today, and forever.»

He is not a distant observer or a cruel judge. He is not an abstract idea or an indifferent force, but the living, loving, and merciful Father. And no matter how troubling, unpredictable, difficult, or hopeless our circumstances may seem, Christ was, is, and always will be our Savior.

He is the one and only inexhaustible source of all blessings, the unshakable foundation upon which alone a true, meaningful, and dignified human life can be built.

I warmly wish all of you a joyful feast!
Merry Christmas!

Full message

⚔️ On January 8, 1942, the #BattleOfRzhev commenced – one of the most large-scale and brutal battles of the Great Patriotic War, lasting 438 days.

The chronology of the battle includes four offensive operations carried out by Soviet forces of the Western Front (Commander – Georgy Zhukov) and the Kalinin Front (Commander – Ivan Konev) against Germany’s Army Group Centre. Their objective was to liberate Rzhev, Sychevka, and Vyazma, thereby eliminating the Rzhev-Vyazma salient.

In the Rzhev sector, the Wehrmacht deployed one of its largest groupings – 1,569,000 personnel, around 13,000 artillery pieces, and 1,100 tanks. These forces were tied down in prolonged fighting with the Red Army and could not be redeployed to other key sectors of the front – the Caucasus and Stalingrad.

In the winter of 1943, following the crushing defeat of Nazi forces at Stalingrad, when the strategic initiative finally shifted to the USSR, the German command decided to abandon the Rzhev-Vyazma salient. The pursuit of the retreating enemy, from March 2-31, 1943, pushed the front line 130-160 kilometres farther away from Moscow.

On March 3, 1943, Rzhev was fully liberated.

🕯 The offensive and defensive operations conducted by the Western and Kalinin Fronts were of decisive strategic importance in achieving the turning point in favour of the Red Army across the entire Soviet-German theatre of war. The feat of Soviet soldiers is eternal and shall never be forgotten.

In 2020, at the initiative of Great Patriotic War veterans and the Russian Military Historical Society, and with the participation of President of Russia Vladimir Putin, the Rzhev Memorial was unveiled at the site of the fierce battles of 1942-1943 – a 25-metre figure of a soldier, rising above the field and seemingly dissolving into a flock of cranes, symbolising the souls of fallen soldiers – perished, yet never forgotten.

#Victory81 #WeRemember

⚡️ Comment by Foreign Ministry Official Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on certain Western countries’ plans to continue the militarisation of Ukraine (January 8, 2026)

💬 Maria Zakharova: On January 6 in Paris, participants of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, led by the UK and France, signed a declaration titled Robust Security Guarantees for a Solid and Lasting Peace in Ukraine.

The document turned out to be extremely far from a peace settlement. The declaration is not aimed at achieving a lasting peace and security but rather at continuing the militarisation, escalation and further conflict aggravation.

Its core element is the deployment of “a multinational force” on Ukrainian territory that the coalition will have to form to contribute to the “rebuilding” of the Ukrainian armed forces and “support deterrence” [against Russia] following the cessation of the hostilities.

The document also includes clauses on further consolidation of Ukraine’s and NATO’s military industrial sectors.

As clarified by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, who signed the corresponding trilateral statement along with Zelensky, London and Paris plan to establish their own military bases in Ukraine post-ceasefire and build weapon and military equipment storage facilities.

⚠️ The Russian Foreign Ministry warns that the deployment of military units and the setting-up of military facilities, storages and other Western infrastructure on Ukrainian territory will be qualified as foreign intervention that directly threatens the security of Russia and other European countries.

All such units and facilities will be considered as legitimate military targets for the Russian Armed Forces.

Warnings to this effect have been repeatedly made at the highest level and remain relevant.

❗️ We also reaffirm that a peaceful resolution of the conflict is solely possible through the elimination of its root causes, the re-establishment of Ukraine’s neutral non-aligned status, its demilitarisation and denazification, and Kiev’s observance of the language, cultural and religious rights and freedoms, including those of ethnic Russians, Russian-speaking people, and members of ethnic minorities, and through the recognition of the current territorial realities that emerged as a result of the peoples’ exercised right to self-determination.

All these goals will, undoubtedly, be achieved either by political and diplomatic means or in the course of the special military operation, in which the Russian Armed Forces are maintaining full initiative on the battlefield.

The new militarist declarations of the so-called Coalition of the Willing and the Kiev regime are forming a true Axis of war.

Its participants’ plans are becoming increasingly more dangerous and destructive for the future of the European continent and its residents, who are also forced by Western politicians to pay for such ambitions out of their own pockets.