Ukraine will officially celebrate Christmas on December 25 this year making a symbolic shift away from Russia, after the government in Kyiv changed the date from January 7, when most Orthodox believers celebrate, in a snub to Moscow. It will be the first time in over a century that Ukrainians will observe the festival in line with the Gregorian calendar and along with most of the world’s Christians.
What prompted this change?
According to the Ukrainian media, the idea of celebrating Christmas on December 25 was discussed even before Russia launched what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine. Like Russia, Ukraine would also observe the holiday on January 7, following the old Julian calendar.
However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine played a role in settling the debate, which has been going on since 2019, between various religious groups about the change. The Ukrainian government passed legislation in July making the date change, in what was viewed as a snub to Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church, which still has some influence on Kyiv, until recently.
The bill which was later signed into law by President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that Ukrainians wanted to “live their own life with their own traditions and holidays”. It added that this change also allows them to “abandon the Russian heritage of imposing Christmas celebrations on January 7.”
The movement to change the date can be traced back to the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, an independent church that held its first service in 2019.
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine formally broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
“We believe that we really should celebrate Christmas with the whole world, far away, far away from Moscow. For me that’s the new message now,” one smiling parishioner, Olena, whose son is a medic on the front line told AFP.
She added, “We really want to celebrate in a new way. This is a holiday with the whole of Ukraine, with our independent Ukraine. This is very important for us.”
Ukrainian Christmas traditions include a dinner on Christmas Eve with 12 meatless dishes including a sweet grain pudding called kutya and it begins only after the first star rises, marked by the lighting of a Christmas candle, a prayer, and a food blessing.
At least four killed in Ukraine’s Kherson
At least four people were killed and nine others were injured over the past 24 hours after Russian bombardment in the frontline Ukrainian city of Kherson, said the region’s governor Oleksandr Prokudin, in a post on Telegram, on Sunday (Dec 24).
Russian forces fired 71 shells at Kherson from Saturday to Sunday morning, hitting the city centre, residential areas, medical and educational institutions and “critical infrastructure facilities,” said Prokudin.
“As a result of Russian aggression, four people died and nine others were wounded, including one child,” he added. Zelensky condemned what he called “brutal terrorist shelling deliberately targeting life-sustaining civilian infrastructure and ordinary streets”.
He added, “Unfortunately there are fatalities. My condolences to the families.” The Ukrainian president assured that repair teams would “work around the clock to restore electricity and heat supply” to the city after the strikes.
(With inputs from agencies)
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