‘It will never be the same again’: Christmas in Ukraine transformed by war | Ukraine

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On Christmas Eve, as Ukrainian Catholics gathered to celebrate at the Latin Cathedral in the western city of Lviv, the electricity went out, the result of the latest waves of Russian missile strikes on the country’s power grid.

The family of Oksana Mikhailevna, 50, a congregation, will celebrate twice this year, due to the push to move away from the Orthodox calendar — which falls on Christmas on January 7 — and because of the other consequences of the war.

“My husband is in the east now, so my children will come over for Christmas Eve dinner and we will have some kind of celebration. My husband will be back before the sixth and we will have a proper celebration after that.”

“But it will be simpler and more informal. We are not in the mood for a big celebration. Usually at work we share recipes with my colleagues.

Now we are only talking about missile strikes. It kills the mood. But we still have dinner on the 24th and 6th so the family can get together. But it will never be the same as before.”

Ukraine’s first Christmas since the invasion in February caused the country to completely transform as residents woke up on Sunday again to a nationwide air raid alert.

In the east, in the Donbass region, and in the south – the positions of the two fronts – those soldiers who are able to sit down with comrades, not families, to eat traditional Christmas porridge made from poppy seeds, wheat and raisins called kutya.

But for many, it was a story of relentless struggle as fierce battles broke out and the Russians continued their bombardment of civilian centres, including the southern city of Kherson where 10 people were killed on Christmas Eve.

For many civilians near the front lines on Sunday, meals will be cooked on stoves or over a fire, while many across the country will start their day with “war coffee” – black without sugar.

Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, warned in a video address to the nation late on Saturday that winter should be endured, but added: “We will celebrate our holidays. As always. We will smile and be happy. As always. The difference is the same.” We will not wait for a miracle. After all, we create it ourselves.

And while Ukrainians have tried to stress a sense of normalcy in the run-up to Christmas amid the ongoing crisis, most, like Oksana, describe feeling just trying to survive.

In VDNG Park on the outskirts of Kyiv, shortly before Christmas, some families were taking selfies in front of a Christmas tree against the backdrop of some of the city’s vast Soviet-era ruins.

As fresh snow falls, workers clear the empty rink, and stalls set up traditional snacks of roasted meat and vegetables, and cauldrons of wine.

Alena Vlasyuk has been buying sweets for her two-year-old son Maxim, and visiting the garden with Alina’s brother, Serhiy.

We live nearby and came because we don’t have any electricity in our apartment. “It’s better than sitting in the dark,” she said.

Vlasyuk explained that this year her family will celebrate Christmas on December 25 for the first time, and not on January 7, visiting the family in a village instead of staying in Kyiv.

The truth is that even Christmas time has become a highly politicized issue in the midst of the war.

For centuries, Ukrainians have celebrated Christmas on January 7, the date of birth according to the Julian calendar.

But in the aftermath of Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine allowed its adherents for the first time to celebrate Christmas on December 25, turning away from Russia and towards the West.

“We are afraid to stay and celebrate here in the city because we are afraid that the Russians will stage a provocation during the holidays,” says Vlasyuk.

Christmas tree installed in Sofiska Square in Kyiv. Photo: Oleg Petrasyuk/EPA

The risk of Russian strikes has led to the cancellation of Christmas markets in Sofievska Square in Kyiv, where at least one tree has been erected. A tree was also erected at Kyiv’s main railway station after deliberation by the mayor, Vitali Klitschko, and the municipality. Klitschko himself – like many Ukrainians – will be separated from his family, who are abroad, this year.

And at some metro stations used as bomb shelters, efforts were made to put up decorations for families forced to take cover during air raids.

In one of those metro centrals not far from Maidan Square, sisters Svetlana and Olha Verbichuk are sitting on a staircase singing Christmas and accompanying folk songs on bandura, the traditional Ukrainian stringed instrument.

Svitlana and Olha Verbyshchuk Svitlana plays Shchedryk on Pandora – video

“We’re trying to keep people’s spirits up,” says Svetlana. She adds that they will hardly celebrate this year. Instead, the sisters would cook food to deliver to the troops.

It will not be the same as it was before the war. We will pray for our soldiers and volunteer on December 25th and January 7th.”

Some traditions have managed to survive in the run-up to Christmas, including a caroling service at St. Sophia’s Cathedral with the Kyiv Chamber Choir.

In rehearsal for this performance, the choir was practicing Shchedryk – the melody known in English as Carol of Bells – a song from the Kolyadka tradition made famous a century earlier by composer Mykola Leontovich and then adapted to new lyrics in English.

It is a song, based on a four-note melody, that has become a poignant musical allegory of the war in Ukraine that is performed around the world.

Among the singers was the conductor Mikola Hopdić, the founder of the choir. Like many Ukrainians, he plans to give money he would normally spend on ceremonies to the troops fighting at the front.

“I am simply praying for electricity this year,” he said. “I live on the 22nd floor of an apartment building. When I get home, I look to see if the lights are on to see if the elevator is working. Electricity will mean hot meals and older friends and family can come over.”

“Our lives are very simple now,” Taisia ​​Iurivia, Director of the Choir. “At least the choir can now sing together. At the beginning of the war, they were dispersed to different cities, even to different countries.”

Kyiv Chamber Choir Rehearse Shchedryk, a Famous Ukrainian Hymn – Video

Natalia Gromova, a professor of history and ethnography at Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv who studies folk traditions, sees at least some cultural investment in Christmas traditions as a reaction to the secularization imposed in the Soviet era.

She is frustrated, however, that the Ukrainian Orthodox Patriarchate has manipulated the issue of determining the day of celebration, suggesting that those who wish to celebrate on December 25 instead of January 7 may do so.

“I don’t see why the church can’t be more decisive. They have been so soft when they should be tougher.”

Gromova, meanwhile, hopes to spend Christmas the way she used to too, taking a recorder and visiting communities in the Carpathian Mountains to do her research.

“I’d like to go but who knows if the trains will run.”

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