Ukraine to Celebrate Christmas on 25 December

Despite being Orthodox, Zelensky decides to break with Russia's 'Taliban' Church and celebrate using Gregorian calendar

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

At my annual Malbec party last night (we drink Malbec, and I make empanadas and Frazetta), which was re-established with a one-year break after our move to Portugal — one of my Ukrainian guests mentioned how it would “now be easier to get in the spirit of Christmas.” 

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

The main Orthodox church has traditionally observed the holiday on 7 January, following the Julian calendar — which Russia also uses.

Most Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians. But in July this year, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a bill into law making 25 December the official Christmas holiday as the nation adopted the Western, Gregorian calendar.

The move, which has the backing of the church, marks another step by Kyiv towards eradicating all traces of Russian influence in the country as it continues to fight Moscow’s invasion (UKraine to Celebrae Christmas on 25 December).

To most observers of this war of genocide started by Russia, such a move by Kyiv seems like a “whatever” moment. If you are Ukrainian, Russian, or have spent time immersed in that culture, you appreciate how substantial this date change is. Before the war, and despite Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and support of the Eastern Ukrainian rebels, the cultures were as close as any two “separate” countries could be. 

The lies and excuses Putin used to justify his crime of invading Ukraine all rested on the imagined cultural oppression of Russian-speaking Ukrainians. Russian language, Putin told the world on February 24th, 2022, was being restricted, and anyone aligning with Russian traditions, like those of the Russian Orthodox Church, was being persecuted in a Spanish-inquisition-kind-of-way.

All of those lies would surely land Vlad on the naughty list. As I have written on many occasions, Ukrainians predominantly speak Russian but now are being required by the government to learn Ukrainian. Even among the eight million Ukrainians living outside the country, two groups are forming: One that continues to speak Russian and one that speaks Ukrainian — or tries to at least.

Kyiv’s break with the Russian ‘Taliban’ Church — I call it this because the head of the church whole-heartedly supports the Kremlin’s terroristic activities and stealing of children — is a substantial cultural breaking that in another generation or so we make these countries as culturally separate as France and Germany are today. 

When Russian troops began to get bogged down shortly after the invasion, Putin realized that his lies would be popped like errant bubbles escaping from a dish soap bottle. As we have seen with the lunacy about how the West was poised to wage war with Russia, Putin pushed things and made the kinds of threats that have now put the West on a war footing. His wish came true. 

The same now rings true with his fantasies about cultural oppression and Russophobia in Ukraine. With each passing murder of Ukrainians by Russians, the chasm grows more expansive and the rift deeper. Putin has done nothing to make Russia stronger, better, or more stable. Everything the pasty, little man of evil, a prince of darkness, has done guarantees that Russia’s future will be bleak and cold.

And, that Ukraine will be free, proud, and completely cut off from the swamp of mediocrity and hate.

Merry Christmas, Ukraine!