Millions of Ukrainians are preparing to spend a New Year’s Eve in a country at war. In the cities regularly targeted by Russian strikes, the atmosphere is more heavy than festive.
With the repeated power cuts, the inhabitants of Lviv do not really have the heart to celebrate, says Andrii who came to look for an Internet connection in a cafe in this western city, where energy infrastructure is regularly bombed.
” When we work in the cafés, we hear a lot of Christmas music and that puts us in the mood a bit, but from what I see, for the people around me, the end of the year celebrations are not the main concern “, he testifies, at the microphone ofAnastasia Becchiospecial correspondent for RFI’s international service.
dark atmosphere
In the capital, the Christmas tree is powered by a diesel generator. ” We will not let the Russians rob us of the greatest holidays, New Years and Christmas, from our children “, had declared the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko.
The atmosphere is still not as festive as last year, says Nadia Koval: ” kyiv used to be really decorated in the winter during the holidays, this is not the case now. The spirit in the city is quite dark and not so festive “.
► Read also : Ukrainians celebrate Christmas on December 25 to escape Russian religious influence
According to Orthodox tradition, a majority of Ukrainians celebrate Christmas on January 7, but polls show a growing number of people preferring to move the date forward to December 25 to be closer to Western Christians.
United Poland
In Poland, in solidarity with its neighbour, many municipalities have given up offering fireworks, reports Martin Chabal, RFI correspondent in Warsaw. Symbol of celebration and good humor, the municipality nevertheless prefers to do without fireworks this year, for fear that the sound of explosions will bring back bad memories to the 100,000 Ukrainian refugees who live in the Polish capital.
2022 has been extremely difficult and the town hall considers that it would be inappropriate to organize a party while the war continues a few kilometers away.
The conflict has also pushed all of Poland to have to save money and pyrotechnic shows have been canceled in many large cities which avoid spending too much money in this complicated period for many municipalities.
► To read also: Faced with the war in Ukraine, Poland is spending record sums to renew its defense