Ukrainian families celebrate Christmas at the cemetery to be near lost loved ones

Ukrainian families celebrate Christmas at the cemetery to be near lost loved ones

* Zelensky promises to seek peace in 2025

Family members mourn near the grave of a Ukrainian soldier on the Day of the Armed Forces of
Ukraine at a cemetery in Kharkiv, on December 6, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(Photo by SERGEY BOBOK / AFP)

《 by Katie Livingstone | December 25, 2024 Kiv Post

Katie Livingstone is an American journalist who has covered the war in Ukraine since 2022.

Nearly three years into the Russian invasion, celebrations across Ukraine are shrouded in grief. “Not all of us are home, unfortunately. Sadly, not everyone has a home. And tragically, not everyone is still with us,” Zelensky said in his Christmas address.

Lyubov is not the only one planning to spend the holiday in the Lychakiv cemetery in southeastern Lviv, one of the oldest graveyards in Europe where several families have been decorating their loved ones’ graves. 

Since Russia invaded, rows of new graves have appeared, creating a sea of blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags and red-and-black nationalist banners. “We will bring Christmas porridge here on Christmas Eve. We will pray that it will be easy for him in heaven without us,” said Mariya Lun, who lost her son Yuri in 2022. 

Zelensky said recently that 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the war – though independent estimates put the toll much higher. The UN also says its confirmed number of 11,743 killed civilians is a vast underestimate. “There is war, a cruel war, and our children are dying... we mourn our sons,” Lun said. 

Ukraine’s army is on the backfoot in most parts of the front, including in the eastern Donbas region. Russian troops are closing in on Pokrovsk, the birthplace of Mykola Leontovych, who composed the Ukrainian New Year’s song “Shchedryk”, then adapted in the famous Carol of the Bells. 

“A Ukrainian gifted the world the musical spirit of Christmas. May everyone in the world remember Ukraine when they hear it,” the president said.

‘Ukraine Doing Everything to Ensure 2025 Becomes a Year of Lasting Peace’

Zelensky promises to seek peace in 2025

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tells religious leaders that peace is on the agenda for 2025, as Ukrainians across the country celebrate Christmas for the second year on Dec. 25 after policymakers voted to change the official date last year in a snub to Russia. Cemeteries were full over the holiday as families sought to visit loved ones lost in the war, and the cultural diplomacy of Ukraine’s famed ‘Shchedryk’ and ‘Carol of the Bells’ remains strong.

Zelensky promises to seek peace in 2025 in call with Patriarch

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a call with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on Christmas Eve to assure the religious leader that Ukraine is working toward making 2025 a peaceful year for Ukraine and the world as a whole. 

“On the eve of Christmas, I spoke with His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew,” Zelensky wrote on Tuesday on the social media platform X. “I expressed my gratitude for His spiritual support of Ukraine and prayers for the Ukrainian people.”⍐