Saturday December 24, 2022 | 4:30 p.m.
Ukraine will spend an unusual Christmas Eve and Christmas. Not only will it be because of the war, but because a large part of the population decided to separate from the celebration of the Russian Orthodox Church, Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundiayev, which is on January 7. They did so as a symbol of claim and repudiation of the support that the Russian Orthodox patriarch gave Vladimir Putin in the conflict.
It is the first time in history that this separation has happened, so it becomes a historical milestone, since no Ukrainian ever imagined spending a Christmas like this, but the decision was to celebrate it in the best possible way, hoping for a future better.
Thousands of families will meet tonight in their homes in the shadows due to power cuts resulting from Russian attacks on the electrical system and fear of new bombings. “It is something that we do not imagine or expect, but it fills us with illusion,” Kristina tells TN during a tour in the Donetsk region, one of the most affected by the fighting.
Color in the middle of the war
Walking through the streets of kyiv, Kharkiv, Irpin and other cities affected by attacks since the start of the war, it is possible to come across Christmas trees and decorations on the streets. Many have lights, but many others have them turned off because there is simply no power in the place.
The Ukrainian authorities decided to give cities as much Christmas context as possible to cheer up the population. The long war and the incessant Russian attacks are exhausting the inhabitants of the whole Ukraine. But they keep going anyway. A resistance that has not altered since February 24 when Vladimir Putin launched the invasion.
“Churches will open at night and have a special service to wait for Christmas, it is something that happens every year,” Oleksandr Slyvchuk explained for this article. Since a large part of the population is used to celebrating it on the Orthodox date, it is not clear how everything will proceed. What if there is no doubt is that the Ukrainians will be united.
