Ukraine celebrates Christmas on December 25
The Russian war of aggression is also causing traditions to change in everyday life. For the first time, more people celebrate Christmas on December 25. However, one relic from Soviet times remains.
For the second year in a row, Ukraine is spending Christmas in a state of full-scale war against Russia. The Russian attack on February 24, 2022 marked a historic break with Moscow. The current festive season represents another milestone: For the first time, the number of people celebrating Christmas on December 25 outweighs those celebrating on January 7 according to the Julian calendar, as is customary in many Orthodox countries.
December 25 has been a public holiday in Ukraine for several years now, and the trend towards this date has been observed for several years, especially in larger cities. With the exception of a few regions in the west of the country, Ukraine is an Orthodox country. Internationally, however, there are enough Orthodox churches that do not follow the Julian calendar and prefer December 25. For many Ukrainians, this raised the question of whether it would not make more sense to celebrate Christmas together with the rest of the world.
The major Russian invasion has accelerated this trend once again, and so the Ukrainian parliament has removed January 7 from the list of public holidays. The most important Orthodox church in Ukraine had already decided on December 25. This makes the 2023/2024 holiday season the first in which Christmas is officially only celebrated on December 25.
New Year remains the more important holiday
In everyday life, there are still people who will celebrate on January 7. However, their number has fallen significantly once again. According to a study by market research company Kantor Ukraine, more than 60 percent of Ukrainians have clearly opted for December 25. Before February 24, 2022, the situation was completely different: Only 18 percent had celebrated exclusively on December 25. Even then, however, around a quarter planned to celebrate on both days.
However, January 1 remains a more important holiday in Ukraine compared to Christmas. This is also shown by the survey conducted by Kantor Ukraine: 70 percent of Ukrainians planned to give presents for New Year, 41 percent for Christmas. This tradition is a relic of the Soviet era, which upgraded a secular festival at the expense of a religious family holiday. There will be no real parties in Ukraine this year either: All regions except Transcarpathia have a night-time curfew, which will not be lifted for New Year's Eve. For this reason, 57 percent of Ukrainians tend to simply get together with family members.
New Year's Eve in the hallway or in the bomb shelter
However, experience from last year has shown that such gatherings are ultimately likely to take place in the hallway or in the bomb shelter, especially in Kiev - and this must also be expected this year. The number of missile and drone attacks on the capital has already increased significantly in recent weeks. Last year, Kiev was bombarded with rockets during the day on December 31, followed by an attack with more than 30 drones just after midnight. The champagne to toast the New Year therefore had to be drunk mainly in the hallway - it's safer there because there are at least two walls to the window.
There will probably be scenes like this again in just under a week's time. Overall, there is a complicated atmosphere in Kiev at Christmas. The large Christmas tree on Sophia Square in the Upper Town is even smaller than in 2022, which can be seen as a symbol of the difficult year that did not go as well as hoped in military terms. But although there is once again no proper Christmas market, the city has felt more festive in recent days. This could have something to do with the fact that there have not yet been any major power cuts, the street lights have remained on and the decorations can therefore be seen. Because cafés and restaurants also have electricity, songs from their Christmas playlists can also be heard on the streets.
At first glance, there are also slightly more of the traditional company parties than last year. However, if you talk to restaurant owners, you quickly realize that this impression is deceptive. Whether this is due to the lack of military victories, people's difficult financial situation or the unclear prospects for 2024 is anyone's guess. "Not celebrating doesn't help anyone anyway, not even the soldiers on the front line. It won't bring us any closer to victory," says Andrij, a small business owner, summarizing the opinion of many. And according to Kantor Ukraine, 53% expect 2024 to be a better year than 2023. Although this is one percent less than in the previous year, this figure cannot be taken for granted right now, in December 2023.
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In the midst of the ongoing conflict, Ukraine celebrated Christmas on December 25 for the second year, marking a shift away from the traditional January 7 date. This change was further accelerated by the Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Despite the festive atmosphere, celebrations in Kiev were underlined by the looming threat of missile and drone attacks, a stark reminder of the 'Turn of the year' being a time of conflict rather than peace for the city's residents.
Source: www.ntv.de
