Believers turned out in force to celebrate the new Christmas day in Kyiv's St. Sophia Cathedral. Amongst those attending, there was widespread support for the new date.
(First woman)
"This is the right thing to do, in my opinion. The civilized world, all of Europe, does the same. I don't want to be associated with the aggressor country and celebrate the way they do. We are together with Europe, the civilized world, and God is with us."
(Second woman)
“I think changing the official date of Christmas is very important. The country should distance itself from Russia and its holidays.”
Ukraine's president held his second Christmas Eve address since Russia's full-scale invasion. He offered words of hope and his vision to move away from Russia and closer to Europe.
(Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine)
"Today, all Ukrainians are together. We all celebrate Christmas together. On the same date, as one big family, as one nation, as one united country. And today our common prayer will be stronger than ever. The people's prayer. Today, it will unite millions of voices — more than ever before. And it will resonate without a time difference of two weeks. Resonate together with Europe and the world."
Christmas day in Ukraine saw another tradition fall as many church services were held in Ukrainian — instead of Russian.