“Ukraine’s Independence: A New Christmas Date Signals a Historic Shift Away from Russia”
“It was terrifying when tanks drove down the street,” Henya, another worker, explains. “We couldn’t go outside. We had no information, we were cut off from the world. It was terrible.”
And yet, despite only a third of the team having returned, decorations are still being made. Small pieces of Christmas cheer are carefully built and sent out around the country.
And what is Henya’s wish for Ukrainians living under Russian occupation this Christmas?
“You have to believe, hope and liberation will happen, it will be like that.”
Henya works on the more artistic part of the process: she and her colleagues caringly hand paint each bauble.
You immediately notice a military theme. Miniature soldiers, MIG fighter jets, even a Ukrainian pulling a Russian tank – all hang from a shelf, destined for a Christmas tree.
“I think that everyone who will take a look at such a bauble will hope for the victory of our country sooner,” says Tamila with a defiant tone now typical here in Ukraine.
Ukraine and Russia share countless cultural ties, and they will always have to live next to each other. Yet the former’s identity is only being strengthened by the latter’s aggression.
Fewer places know that aggression better than the town of Bucha, a couple of miles from the decoration factory.
As the Russian advance towards Kyiv slowed last year, invading troops were accused of killing more than 500 civilians in one of the worst atrocities of the war so far.
Some of their names appear on a silver memorial next to the Church of St Andrew. As its golden domes glisten in the winter sunshine, you can still see where grass has struggled to regrow.
It was here that a mass grave appeared during Russia’s occupation. The bodies of those who died could only be exhumed after they retreated.
“Unfortunately for many people in the world, Ukraine is linked to Russia. And Ukraine is always viewed as a neighbor of Russia,” explains Father Andriy in the candlelit crypt of St Andrew’s.
“But I think that we are more a neighbor of Europe,” he says. “And the fact that we’ve changed the calendar is not shifting away from Russia. It is us returning to Europe, where we belong.”
Given Russia will always be close by, I ask whether he could ever forgive the invading country for what it’s done to his homeland.
“God forgives a sinner, but only those who repent. We do not see yet that the Russians are trying to repent for their sins and mistakes, so I think it’s too early to talk about forgiveness.”
For Ukraine, any Russian repentance must start with an end to its ongoing invasion. There is still no sign of that happening.
