For the first time since 1917, Ukraine will celebrate Christmas on December 25 this year, a change of date from January 7 – Christmas Day in the Julian calendar used in Russia – representing the latest attempt to eradicate the flu of Moscow in the invaded country.
Last July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promulgated a bill to officially move Christmas Day, with the aim of “abandoning the Russian legacy of imposing Christmas celebrations on January 7”, an explanatory note read. of the bill on the website of the Kiev parliament. Ukraine has been under Moscow’s spiritual leadership since at least the 17th century, but part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church broke with Moscow in 2019 over Russia’s annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in the country’s east. The move to December 25 is part of a broader nationwide process of dismantling the symbols of Russia, the Soviet Union and communism, which began in 2014 when Putin annexed the peninsula and sparked a pro-Moscow uprising in the region eastern Donbass. The adoption of the Western Gregorian calendar is also a sign of Kiev’s continuous attempt to align itself with Europe, the BBC recalls, while the war can also be seen in the decorations for Christmas trees, which are increasingly military-themed. Miniature soldiers, MiG fighter planes, a Ukrainian tractor towing a Russian tank are among the items sold at the decorations factory in Klavdievo-Tarasove – a small town outside Kiev – one of three that once supplied the entire Soviet Union . “I think that everyone who takes a look at objects like these will first hope for the victory of our country,” says Tamila, one of the factory employees.