Kyiv marks first Christmas on December 25 – Ukraine newest

An Orthodox cathedral in Kyiv is internet hosting its Christmas Eve service at present (24 December), after a decree handed earlier this yr that means Ukraine not has to have a good time on the identical day because the Russian church.

Orthodox Christmas is often held on 7 January because of the calendar variations, with lots of these celebrating the later date by fasting within the 40 days main as much as it.

Russia and Greece have a number of the largest populations of Orthodox Christians, with Ukraine selecting to distance itself from the Putin-aligned date.

Ukraine is ready to formally have a good time Christmas for the primary time on December 25, having beforehand marked the date on January 7.
The Russian Orthodox Church observes the start of Jesus on January 7.

Some Orthodox Ukrainians noticed Christmas on December 25 final yr in response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The cathedral within the Monastery of the Caves, a Unesco World Heritage Site in Kyiv, held its Christmas celebration on January 7 of this yr, however the service was held within the Ukrainian language for the primary time within the 31 years of Ukraine‘s independence from the Soviet Union.

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed legislation in July moving the public Christmas Day holiday to December 25.

However, one of Ukraine‘s two competing Orthodox church organisations is sticking with the January date dictated by the Julian calendar.

To mark Christmas Eve on December 24, Mr Zelensky addressed the nation in a video filmed before the floodlit St Sophia Cathedral in central Kyiv.

He reassured Ukrainians fighting against Russia’s full-scale invasion of the nation that “step by step, day by day, the darkness is losing”.

“Today, this is our common goal, our common dream. And this is precisely what our common prayer is for today. For our freedom. For our victory. For our Ukraine,” Mr Zelensky stated.

Ex-Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a bomb plot orchestrated by Vladimir Putin’s oldest ally, a Russian intelligence officer has claimed.

Mr Prigozhin, who was killed when his aircraft crashed over Russia on 23 August this yr, launched a mutiny in opposition to the Russian ministry of defence in June following a long-running feud with officers over the path of the warfare in Ukraine.

At the time, the Kremlin denied any involvement along with his dying and characterised western intelligence assessments of Putin’s culpability as an “absolute lie”.

There is a rising sense of alarm amongst Ukraine’s frontline forces at dwindling provides of arms and ammunition and indicators that the dedication of worldwide companions is faltering, in response to a number of senior Ukrainian army officers, Arpan Rai experiences.

Ukraine’s army fears Vladimir Putin’s forces might break via its defensive traces and safe victory for Russia inside days if the US doesn’t decide to extra support, with intense combating nonetheless going down and hourly assaults concentrating on the important thing industrial city of Avdiivka, regardless of the onset of the nation’s bitter winter.

“It is a very difficult situation, very difficult, but the guys from the defence forces are holding their ground,” says Vitaliy Barabash, the pinnacle of Avdiivka’s army administration, in an interview with The Independent.

Russian president Vladimir Putin will proceed his warfare in Ukraine till he achieves “final victory” the EU safety chief has warned.

“He will not give up the war, especially not before the American election, which may present him with a much more favorable scenario,” Josep Borrell instructed The Guardian.

President Volodymyr Zelensky stated throughout a press convention final week that the results of the 2024 US presidential election might “very strongly” affect the course of Russia’s warfare in opposition to Ukraine.

There will probably be extreme penalties if Russian president Vladimir Putin wins the warfare in Ukraine, the UK’s defence minister has warned.

“If we allow Putin to win this war by dragging it out, and he somehow wins it by exhausting everybody else, then we will suffer the consequences. And the consequences would be incredibly severe for Europe, for Britain, for the world,” Grant Shapps instructed The Times.

The United Kingdom spent £2.3bn on defence help to Ukraine final yr and has dedicated the identical quantity in 2023.

Russian air defence methods downed 4 Ukrainian army plane over japanese Ukraine within the final day, the Kremlin has claimed.

The defence ministry stated it had shot down three Su-27 fighter plane and one Su-24 tactical bomber within the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk areas of southeastern Ukraine.

It comes after president Zelensky stated his nation’s armed forces shot down three Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber plane on the southern entrance.

An eight-year-old boy is amongst three youngsters to have been rescued from occupied territories by the Ukrainian humanitarian NGO Save Ukraine, experiences counsel.

“Three more children from the temporarily occupied territories were returned to the Save Ukraine team. Thus, we completed 14 rescue missions saving 14 children, seven of whom were children deprived of parental care,” the organisation’s head Mykola Kuleba stated.

“For today, the Save Ukraine team has returned to Ukraine already 226 children who have been under the influence of Russian authorities since 24 February 2022.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has branded Russian troops “terrorists” following an assault on Kherson that left 4 useless and 9 injured.

“The elimination of the consequences of Russian strikes on Kherson lasted all night. Terrorists deliberately target civilian infrastructure and ordinary streets,” Mr Zelensky stated on X.

“I am grateful to everyone who is doing everything they can to make the Russian terrorists feel our Ukrainian response, a completely fair response to their attacks,” he added.

It comes after a toddler was killed together with three different civilians in strikes on Kherson Oblast during the last day, the area’s governor stated.

Vladimir Putin could assault Europe within the winter of 2024 if the United States discovered itself “without a leader” following its presidential election, a European intelligence supply claimed.

The supply, cited by German newspaper Bild, stated a possible Russian strike on Europe might happen throughout the transitionary interval, depending on President Joe Biden not securing re-election within the 2024 US presidential election.

Throughout his marketing campaign for the presidency, former President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised the extent of support President Joe Biden’s administration supplies to Kyiv.