Ukraine comes together to celebrate first Christmas held on December 25

Ukraine has come together to celebrate the country’s first ever Christmas held on December 25.

Poignant photos show families enjoying a few hours of peace as they come together for traditional food, music and dance.

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

In July, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed legislation in July 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’.

Children sing carols as they celebrate Christmas in the village of Pirogovo outside Kyiv (Picture: AP)

Carollers walked from house to house to share the joy (Picture: EPA)

A Christmas service held inside a church also attracted a large group (Picture: AP)

‘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.’

Zelensky said Ukraine will continue to fight for ‘our common goal’ and ‘our common dream’

Women dressed in national dress celebrate Christmas in the village of Pirogovo(Picture: AP)

Kherson was not the only region of Ukraine to come under attack Sunday.

Russian forces launched 15 drone strikes overnight.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that 14 of the Iranian-made Shahed drones were destroyed over the Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhya, Dnipropetrovsk and Khmelnytskyi regions.

The war in Ukraine, coupled with earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and the conflict in Gaza, has led to an ‘unprecedented scale’ of human devastation in 2023.

The desperate situation brought about by conflict, earthquakes and floods across various parts of the globe can leave ‘deep trauma and psychological impacts on those affected’, especially children, aid worker Rory Moylan said.

Reflecting on the year’s events, the head of region for Europe and the Middle East at the British Red Cross said: ‘2023 has seen human devastation on an unprecedented scale.

‘As the conflict in Ukraine has continued, so has our Ukraine Crisis Appeal and this year we’ve launched our Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal, Morocco Earthquake Appeal, Libya Floods Appeal and Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territory Appeal.

‘The fact we’ve had cause to launch four emergency appeals this year gives you an idea of the scale of the humanitarian support that is needed right now.’

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Previously, celebrations were held on January 7. That was until Ukraine decided to ‘snub’ Russia by moving the date.