Ukraine Starts Celebrating Christmas on December 25

Russia has lost on all fronts including on the line of religion as Ukraine stops observing Christmas on January 7 as it used to be the norm with neighbouring Russia.

The Russian Orthodox Church observes the birth of Jesus – and Christmas as a whole – on January 7.

In July, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed legislation to shift the date to December 25. The move was seen as a  major snub towards Russia

To mark the festive period, President Zelensky addressed the nation in a dramatic video filmed before the floodlit St Sophia Cathedral in central Kyiv

He reassured Ukrainians fighting against  Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country that ‘step by step, day by day, the darkness is losing’.

Today, this is our common goal, our common dream. And this is precisely what our common prayer is for today. For our freedom. For our victory. For our Ukraine,’ Zelensky said in the video, filmed December 24.

But as Zelensky gave his speech, attacks continued across Ukraine.

Russian shelling in the southern Kherson region killed four people on Christmas eve.

Among those killed were an 87-year-old man and his 81-year-old wife who died following a strike on their apartment building.

Andrii Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said: ‘There are no holidays for the enemy.

‘They do not exist for us as long as the enemy kills our people and remains on our land.’