Source: Associated Press
Monday 25 December 2023 12:09:09
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed fellow citizens on the eve of Christmas, which Ukraine officially celebrates for the first time on December 25, having previously marked the date on January 7.
To mark Christmas Eve on December 24, Zelenskyy addressed the nation in a video filmed in front of the floodlit St. Sophia Cathedral in central Kyiv.
He reassured Ukrainians fighting against Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country that “in the end, darkness will lose.”
Zelenskyy signed legislation in July moving the public Christmas Day holiday to December 25 although one of Ukraine’s two competing Orthodox church organization’s is sticking with the January date dictated by the Julian calendar.
A note attached to the law said its goal was to “abandon Russian heritage” and cited “the desire of all Ukrainians to live their lives with their own traditions, holidays,” fueled by Russia’s aggression against the country.