2023-12-25 12:14 United News Network 24 Hours Around the Corner Kiev’s “Cannonball Tree”: A Christmas tree made from artillery shells from the Ukrainian front line and placed on the streets of Kiev. Picture/Road…
【2023. 12. 25 Ukraine】
Ukraine’s first “Christmas on December 25th”: The holiday has been revised after leaving Russia and entering the EU, but Russia still attacked it on Christmas Eve
“Love and honesty meet each other, justice and peace are close to each other.” Under the flames of war, Ukraine not only resisted the Russian invasion with its life and flesh, but also continued to distance itself from Russia on a cultural level – Ukraine has amended the law in July 2023, and can be changed to Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, rather than January 7th in the Julian calendar that synchronizes with Russia. Since last year, some people in Ukraine have switched to the Gregorian calendar to celebrate Christmas. The most direct reason is Russia’s aggression, which strengthens Ukrainians’ determination to integrate into the European world. But now the war has not stopped. Russia continued to launch artillery attacks on the Kherson area on Christmas Eve, killing at least five civilians. The war of aggression still threatens Ukraine.
▌Previous summary: “The light of faith against aggression: “New Christmas traditions” under the flames of war in Ukraine”
After Ukraine was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1917, the official date of celebrating Christmas followed that of Russia and was set on January 7 according to the Julian Orthodox calendar. Even though there are more Catholics in western Ukraine, it is officially celebrated on January 7. Although the Ukrainian government designated December 25 as a national holiday in 2017, the situation did not change significantly until Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia’s invasion has accelerated Ukrainians’ desire to break away from Russia politically and culturally and get closer to the West. The date of celebrating Christmas is an important step; Ukrainian President Zelensky has amended the law in July 2023 to allow Ukrainians to give up In the “tradition” of celebrating Christmas on January 7, he also said in his Christmas speech released on the evening of December 24:
“We all celebrate Christmas together, on the same day, as a big family, as a nation, as a unified country.” December 24, 2023, Christmas Eve in the western Ukrainian village of Krivolivnia.Photo/Associated Press
Festivals under war still have a strong military connotation, which is revealed through decorations such as Christmas trees, such as Christmas glass balls decorated with soldiers, MiGs and tanks, or Christmas trees made of artillery shells ; Despite this, Ukrainians still braved the flames of war to practice the important meaning of Christmas, which is to reunite with their families – for Ukrainians who fled the war and were scattered across Europe, this is something they cannot do on Christmas in 2022 regret. In 2023, despite the stalemate war situation, many Ukrainians in exile chose to return to their country for the holidays, hoping that the war would end and they could finally stay in their home country.
Valeria Shashenok, a 22-year-old refugee who returned to Ukraine from the UK, said that due to the war situation in 2022, she was unable to return to Ukraine for the holidays. In 2023, she embarked on a journey home, flying from London to Poland, Then take the long-distance train back home to Kiev. In an interview with the BBC, Shashenock said that she was alone in London and had difficulty finding a job. Surviving in a foreign country made her physically and mentally exhausted. She said:
“I think about this a lot. My career and my life belong to Ukraine… Even during the war, I feel that I was in better physical and mental condition here (Ukraine).”
There are still a large number of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine. In just two years, it is not enough for every household in Ukraine to change the date of celebrating Christmas. However, the newly established Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in 2019 has already scheduled it for December 25. It celebrates Christmas on Sunday and has separated from the Russian Orthodox Church in 2022. OCU’s Ukrainian congregation is growing day by day, and even if Orthodox Ukrainian believers have not yet given up celebrating Christmas on January 7, more and more families are choosing to celebrate it twice – once on December 25 and January 7.
St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery in Kiev held a Christmas Eve ceremony on December 24th, which was also the time when Kiev started the war between Ukraine and Russia…
On the other hand, the erosion of the war did not stop with the arrival of Christmas. Ukrainian officials pointed out that Russia bombarded the Kherson area on Christmas Eve, December 24, killing five civilians. This attack also caused Local natural gas and water supplies were partially disrupted, and medical facilities were damaged.
Russia has already withdrawn from the city of Kherson, the capital of Kherson Oblast, and the west bank area due to Ukraine’s counteroffensive in late 2022, but it still launches frequent artillery attacks. In addition, the Russian army still controls Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. For example, the town of Horlivka (Horlivka) in the Donetsk region, 600 kilometers northeast of Kherson, is under the control of the Russian army, and the Russian-appointed mayor of Horlivka Town Prikhodko (Ivan Prikhodko) rebelled. Ukrainian troops shelled the town, damaging a shopping mall and surrounding buildings, killing a civilian woman and injuring six others.
The war situation on the Ukraine-Russia frontline is still chaotic. Most of the sources of war news are officials from Ukraine and Russia. However, “Reuters” pointed out that it has not yet verified the claims of both sides about the Christmas Eve bombardment.
Kiev’s “Cannonball Tree”: A Christmas tree made from artillery shells from the Ukrainian front line and placed on the streets of Kiev.Picture/Road… Behind the camera in Ukraine in the past 24 hours
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2023-12-25 04:14:17
