On Christmas Eve, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed his compatriots with a Christmas message and encouraged them in the face of the Russian war of aggression that has lasted almost two years. “In the end, the darkness will lose. Evil will be defeated,” Zelensky said in a video message released today. On holidays, the whole country prays together, he added: “For our freedom. For our victory. For our Ukraine.”
The head of state reminded all families that this year they would have to celebrate again without their husbands, children and fathers. And he thanked all the Ukrainian soldiers who spend Christmas in the front trenches: “All our warriors of light, the guardian angels of Ukraine. (…) Those who prove that miracles exist. But we have to create them ourselves.”
Against the backdrop of the Russian war of aggression, Ukraine has now moved Orthodox Christmas, which was previously celebrated mainly on January 7th, to December 25th. Only the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has long been associated with Moscow, still maintains the old date.