How Ukrainians are doing Christmas differently this year
Combat medic Myroslav Mardarevych is hunched over a desk in the foyer of St Sophia Cathedral in central Kyiv.
He has just come from the frontline and is furiously writing down names on small pieces of paper. These slips are prayer submissions for the church and Myroslav has filled out three of them with names.
The list of people he knows who have died is longer than those still alive.
Combat medic Myroslav Mardarevych
“I wrote for the safety and health of my friends, relatives, fighters of the Ukrainian army and all Ukrainians,” he says. “On this holy Christmas day, God protect Ukraine and give us strength and resolve for victory.”
Ukrainians are celebrating their first Christmas since Russia‘s invasion in February.
In a historic move, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has given parishes across the country the choice to mark 25 December with the rest of the Christian world, a break from the eastern Orthodox tradition to celebrate on 7 January.
“For some it is the possibility to celebrate with the whole world. For some it is the possibility to celebrate away from Russia,” says St Sophia’s priest, Father Georgii Kovalenko.
“Christmas has a very literal meaning for Ukrainians today. The holy family didn’t find a place to stay – they were homeless. The same as Ukranians that lost their homes, the holy family and Christ were refugees.”
Father Georgii Kovalenko
The congregation at St Sophia’s Cathedral
Halfway through Father Georgii’s sermon, the air raid sirens went off. Instead of Christmas bells, the loud horn and instructions to take shelter were loud and clear.
But instead of rushing to a shelter, the service continued as more arrived.
The room filled with people deep in prayer, reminded in their worship that their country is still at war – a conflict that Pope Francis called “senseless” in his 2022 Christmas address to the world.
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Zelenskyy’s Christmas message
A ‘bitter taste’ at Christmas dinner
In a sombre speech on Christmas Eve, President Zelensky stood in his trademark military green.
“Unfortunately, this year all holidays have a bitter taste for us and we can feel the traditional spirit of Christmas differently,” he said.
“Dinner at the family table may not be so tasty and warm. There may be empty chairs around it and our homes and streets may not be so bright.
“Wherever we are we will be together today. And together we will look into the evening sky and together we will remember the morning of 24 February. We will remember how far we have come.”
Parliamentarian and human rights defender Lesia Vasalenko
While millions of Ukrainians remain separated from their loved ones, some families have managed to come together.
Parliamentarian and human rights defender Lesia Vasalenko is back with her young children for Christmas.
Her work made her vulnerable to assassination, and she sent her family to the UK out of fear for their safety.
Suffering from bouts of homesickness, she has brought her three children home to celebrate with family in Korostyshiv.
They are seeing their grandparents for the first time since the early days of the war.
“Each one of them needs their mother in one way or another. It’s leaving scars which will become apparent in years to come,” says Lesia.
“This fatigue is what Russia is good at playing at. And we have no right – no moral right – in Ukraine or anywhere else to get tired of this.”
A woman has been arrested after 12 people were reportedly injured in a stabbing at Hamburg’s central train station in Germany.
An attacker armed with a knife targeted people on the platform between tracks 13 and 14, according to police.
They added that the suspect was a 39-year-old woman.
Police at the scene. Pic: AP
Officers said they “believe she acted alone” and investigations into the stabbing are continuing.
There was no immediate information on a possible motive.
The fire service said six of the injured were in a life-threatening condition, three others were seriously hurt, and another three sustained minor injuries, news agency dpa reported.
The attack happened shortly after 6pm local time (5pm UK time) on Friday in front of a waiting train, regional public broadcaster NDR reported.
A high-speed ICE train with its doors open could be seen at the platform after the incident.
Railway operator Deutsche Bahn said it was “deeply shocked” by what had happened.
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Four tracks at the station were closed in the evening, and some long-distance trains were delayed or diverted.
Hamburg is Germany‘s second biggest city, with the train station being a hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.
In mid-May, the World Health Organisation assessed that there were “nearly half a million people in a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death”.
“This is one of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time,” its report concluded.
Warning: This article contains images of an emaciated child which some readers may find distressing
Israel‘s decision this week to reverse the siege and allow “a basic level of aid” into Gaza should help ease the immediate crisis.
But the number of aid trucks getting in, so far fewer than 100 per day, is considered dramatically too few by aid organisations working in Gaza, and the United Nations accuses Israel of continuing to block vital items.
Israel-Gaza latest: Gaza enduring ‘atrocious death and destruction’, UN boss warns
“Strict quotas are being imposed on the goods we distribute, along with unnecessary delay procedures,” said UN secretary general Antonio Guterres in New York on Friday.
“Essentials, including fuel, shelter, cooking gas and water purification supplies, are prohibited. Nothing has reached the besieged north.”
Nineteen of Gaza’s hospitals remain operational, all of them are overwhelmed with the number of patients and a lack of supplies.
Baby Aya at Rantisi hospital in northern Gaza is dangerously thin
“Today, we receive between 300 to 500 cases daily, with approximately 10% requiring admission. This volume of inpatient cases far exceeds the capacity of Rantisi hospital, as the facility is not equipped to accommodate such large numbers,” Jall al Barawi, a doctor at the hospital, told us.
At least 94% of the hospitals have sustained some damage, some considerable, according to the UN.
Jall al Barawi, a doctor at Rantisi hospital
Paramedic crews are close to running out of fuel to drive ambulances.
The lack of food, after an 11-week blockade, has left thousands malnourished and increasingly vulnerable to surviving injuries or recovering from other conditions.
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Children are the worst affected.
Our team in Gaza filmed with baby Aya at the Rantisi hospital in northern Gaza. She is now three months old and dangerously thin.
Her skin stretches over her cheekbones and eye sockets on her gaunt, pale face. Her nappy is too big for her emaciated little body.
Aya’s nappy is too big for her emaciated little body.
Lethal spiral
Her mother Sundush, who is only 19 herself, cannot get enough food to produce breastmilk. Baby formula is scarce.
Aya, like so many other young children, cannot get the vital nutrition she needs to grow and develop.
It’s a lethal spiral.
This is what Aya looked like shortly after she was born
“My daughter was born at a normal weight, 3.5kg,” Sundush tells us.
“But as the war went on, her weight dropped significantly. I would breastfeed her, she’d get diarrhoea. I tried formula – same result. With the borders closed and no food coming in, I can’t eat enough to give her the nutrients she needs.”
“I brought her to the hospital for treatment, but the care she needs isn’t available.
“The doctor said her condition is very serious. I really don’t want to lose her, because I lost my husband and she’s all I have left of him. I don’t want to lose her.”
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Aya and her mother Sundush
Some of the aid entering Gaza now is being looted. It is hard to know whether that is by Hamas or desperate civilians. Maybe a combination of the two.
The lack of aid creates an atmosphere of desperation, which eventually leads to a breakdown in security as everyone fights to secure food for themselves and their families.
Only by alleviating the desperation can the security situation improve, and the risk of famine abate.
World
Police launch ‘major operation’ after 12 people injured in knife attack at Hamburg train station
Twelve people are reported to have been injured after a knife attack at Hamburg’s central train station.
A “major operation” has been launched and a suspect was arrested, police said in a post on X.
The identity of the suspect has not been revealed.
Reports in Germany said the suspected attacker was a woman.
The fire service said six of the injured were in a life-threatening condition, three others were seriously hurt, and another three sustained minor injuries, news agency dpa reported.
Bild newspaper said the motive for the attack was so far unknown.
Hamburg is Germany’s second biggest city, with the train station being a hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.
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