Everything Soviet-related from hammer and sickle, stars, idols and monuments are being destroyed along with celebrating Christmas, thus signifying the country’s rebirth with new holidays.
Pic: Social Media
Ukraine, like Russia, officially observed Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7 according to the Julian calendar until Kyiv passed a law earlier this year shifting the date to Dec. 25 in line with other Western European countries. To subscribe please click tau.id/2iy6f and access our live channel.
It will be the first time in more than a century that Ukraine observes the date in line with the Gregorian calendar, along with most of the world’s Christians.
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It is part of a cultural shift that is erasing traces of Russian influence as Ukraine fends off Moscow’s invasion launched nearly two years ago.
The law signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that Ukrainians wanted to “live their own life with their own traditions and holidays”.
It allows them to “abandon the Russian heritage of imposing Christmas celebrations on January 7”, it added as Christianity is the largest religion in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s date change is part of a series of moves since Russia’s invasion to dispel any traces of the Russian and Soviet empires, such as renaming streets and removing monuments.
Pic: Social Media
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine, a newly created independent church that held its first service in 2019, has also changed its Christmas date to December 25.
It formally broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
However, the historically Russia-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, meanwhile, is keeping the January 7 Christmas date. This church claims to have cut ties with Russia because of the war but people are skeptic.
Ukraine had been under Moscow’s spiritual leadership since the 17th century at the latest. Under the Soviet Union and its profession of atheism.
Christmas traditions such as trees and gifts were shifted to New Year’s Eve, which became the main holiday and still is for many families.
Ukrainian Christmas traditions include a dinner on Christmas Eve with 12 meatless dishes, including a sweet grain pudding called kutya.
In some areas, children go from house to house singing carols called kolyadky and performing nativity scenes. People decorate homes with elaborate sheaves of wheat called didukhy.
