Over the holiday period, a pedal-powered Christmas tree became the symbol of Ukraine’s defiant resistance against Russia’s relentless bombing campaign which Vladimir Putin hoped would spoil everyone’s Yuletide. Usually the Orthodox church would celebrate Christmas on January 7, but a decision was made by the Ukraine church to give its parishes the option to mark the festival on December 25, as a way of breaking from the Russian Orthodox church, which has been a vocal supporter of Putin’s war from the beginning.
Russia has been trying, with some success, to target Ukraine’s power grid, putting many basic services from healthcare to sanitation at risk. But while this has resulted in blackouts across the country at the coldest time of the year, on the whole the country still appears as defiant as ever.
Putin, meanwhile, has called a ceasefire to allow Russians to celebrate Orthodox Christmas on January 7.
