Orthodox Christian Ukrainians attended church services on Sunday as the country prepares to celebrate Christmas for the first time on December 25.
– We think we should really celebrate Christmas with the whole world, far away, far away from Moscow.
That’s what Olena says, who visited a Christmas-decorated church in the port city of Odessa.
It was last Christmas that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signaled that they intended to move the Christmas celebration from January 7, when most Orthodox celebrate. Even before the decision, a growing number of Ukrainians had switched to celebrating in December instead – a way to distance themselves from the Russian Church.
– We really want to celebrate in a new way. This is a holiday with all of Ukraine, with our independent Ukraine. This is very important to us, says Olena.
The Orthodox Church in Ukraine has been an independent religious community since 2018. Then the church broke its 300-year-old ties with the Patriarchate in Moscow.
Zelenskyy signed a law this summer moving the celebration to December 25, saying it allows Ukrainians to “abandon the Russian heritage.”