December 4, 2024
News
Amidst the roar of generators, sirens, missile and drone attacks, Ukraine is celebrating its third Christmas in war and the 11th year of occupation of the East and Crimea. Ukrainians see Christmas as a symbol of family and unity. For a lot of people, this holiday is spent in the trenches. That is why Christmas Eve is often preceded by a visit to the church and the post office: people pray for their relatives and friends at the front and send them gifts. These stories tell how the war has affected Christmas traditions in Ukraine.
1. The fire of peace rushes to the front line
Every year in December, the Kyiv railway station is particularly crowded when the Peace Light of Bethlehem arrives by train from Vienna. Each year, on Christmas Eve, Ukrainian Scouts bring it from the birthplace of the Saviour and distribute it throughout the country through their branches. The Peace Light and gifts are sent to defenders and their families during times of war as a sign of support and gratitude.
“This year's celebration is dedicated to our defenders, who we owe the opportunity to celebrate just like last Christmas. We are uniting for a good cause by preparing goodies with our children, weaving camouflage nets, and drawing cards,“ says Anna, a representative of the National Scout Organization of Ukraine 'Plast'. The mother of four is developing an ethnic kindergarten in the suburbs of the capital, where children are raised in Ukrainian traditions, and is also a volunteer educator for a patriotic Plast unit.
“We follow traditions in our family where Christmas always includes carols, a nativity scene, and didukh. It is a Ukrainian Christmas decoration; made from a sheaf of wheat, which symbolises the preservation of memorable family events and traditions. Our dad brings didukh into the house before dinner. For me, the best gift is Christmas with my family, praying together in church and giving thanks,“ says Anna.
2. The workshop is a place of strength and goodness
Iryna and Mykhailo's family are spending their third Christmas at the makerspace. This is how they call the volunteer community 'Vyshhorod Spiders', created at the beginning of the invasion. Here, internally displaced people and locals are united in their daily support of the military. After work and on weekends, people weave camouflage nets, sew special pillows for the wounded, knit warm socks.
“At the beginning of 2023, we made predictions about which camouflage net would be the last one before the victorious net woven for all our friends. Unfortunately, none of the predictions came true,” Iryna sadly recalls, adding that the volunteers are celebrating 2025 with the 1375th net.
Iryna is infinitely sincere and dedicated to helping. During our conversation, she finds a blood donor for a friend and a defibrillator for military medics. She and Mykhailo spend late Christmas Eve loading parcels and then go to greet their children and grandsons. Iryna believes that nothing is impossible.
“A lot depends on us. Only together we can win,” says the volunteer.
3. The light in the window led to a new family
For almost half of her life, Ira worked at a metallurgical plant in the frontline city of Nikopol in the Dnipro region. The war forced her to flee her home and settle in Vyshhorod, closer to her family. The stress of surviving the rocket attacks was overlaid with a divorce and left her drained.
“I was looking for an opportunity to live again... Once, walking down the street in the blackout, I saw a single lighted window in a large building and started asking passers-by. It turned out that here people weave camouflage nets for the frontline. I wanted to be helpful. I went to the light and found support, recovery, and a new family there,” says Ira. She adds that she feels uplifted by the calls from grateful soldiers and her involvement in supporting them.
“I am where I am needed. I believe in our victory, because it is impossible to defeat such people. We have to appreciate each other and the time we spend together,” she says.
The best Christmas gift for her is a joyful memory of a walk in the woods, creating art with her family or watching a theatre performance.
4. Fairies and a corridor party
Halyna tells us how Ukrainians create a Christmas mood under the sight of drones and missiles. She has been volunteering with her sons and husband since the Crimea annexation and occupation of Donbas in 2014. Since February 2022, Halyna has organised a volunteer community called ‘Underpants Fairies’, which sews up to 1,000 pieces of adaptive clothing and underwear for clinics and hospitals.
“Christmas should be a holiday because it brings life back. In case of shelling, we prepare dinner beforehand so that we can quickly move to a safe place. We arrange a corridor party or bring food to the shelter with our neighbours,” says Halyna with a smile.
To cheer up the defenders of Ukraine after severe injuries and amputations, the ‘fairies’ send them bed linen, clothes and pillows with Christmas prints. Hospitals across the country receive this for free. The material and supplies are donated by the volunteers' families and do-gooders.
“Once we received a message: could we please have one more jacket, it's so nice and smells so good. Now we're trying to remember who sent this batch of items, because we have to fulfil such a wish,” says Halyna.
5. The most wonderful gift
Kateryna fled Donetsk with her husband and seven-month-old son in 2014 when Russia-backed militants seized the local airport. Since then, the family has been settled near Kyiv and raising their two sons.
“I still remember the pre-war Christmas at my parents‘ house and the warm meetings that I miss so much,” says Kateryna.
This year, the family is celebrating at home. Kateryna admits that she is happy to have pleasant chores and preparations that distract her from stress and boost her strength. Her main joy is the anticipation of her daughter's birth.
“This is the most wonderful Christmas gift! It gives me hope and faith in the coming of peace,” says Kateryna.
Caritas Czech Republic in Ukraine
Caritas Czech Republic has been helping people in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. In addition to providing much needed humanitarian aid, we also provide shelter to internally displaced people in modular houses in western Ukraine. We are also improving living conditions in dormitories.
In western Ukraine, we support Ukrainians who have decided to stand on their own feet after evacuating from the war zone. Through minigrants, we support the restoration of livelihoods for people in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and the Transcarpathian region. The aim is to help people affected by the war to rebuild their income sources, develop a career or start their own business.
In eastern Ukraine, we improve the accessibility and quality of rehabilitation and reproductive medicine by modernising hospitals and educating staff. In the South, we restorе water supply, insulate homes, and provide firewood for heating in frontline villages.
We are grateful to everyone who helps us support Ukrainian families and communities. Everyone can help.
