(Kyiv) Dec 7 (AFP)- Russian and Ukrainian artillery have continued to pound targets in war-scarred eastern Ukraine despite Russian leader Vladimir Putin saying he ordered his forces to observe a 36 hour ceasefire for the Orthodox Christmas.

Exchanges of artillery fire were reported along the front lines of Ukraine’s city of Bakhmut, the town of Kreminna, and other locations in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions on Friday after the start of Moscow’s order for its forces to maintain a unilateral truce from midday in observance of the Russian holiday.

Russian rockets also rained down on residential areas in the cities of Kherson and Kramatorsk before the truce was scheduled to begin at noon Moscow time (09:00 GMT).

“What ceasefire? Can you hear?” a Ukrainian soldier told the Reuters news agency as an explosion rang out in the distance at the front in Kreminna.

“What do they want to achieve if they keep on shooting? We know, we have learned not to trust them,” the soldier said.

Ukrainian forces in Kreminna fired back from tanks.

The Kremlin announced the 36-hour ceasefire on Thursday, though Kyiv had said it would not comply with the unilateral action, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as a ploy by Putin to slow Ukraine’s advances and create an opportunity for Russia to replenish its forces.