![]() ![]() A branch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine allowed its churches to celebrate Christmas on December 25 last year. The new law will effectively formalize what some churches in Ukraine had already begun practicing. Russia’s war in Ukraine further accelerated the divide between the two branches of Orthodox Christianity, especially given that the head of Russia’s Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, fully endorsed the invasion and framed it as a culture clash between the wider Russian world and Western liberal values. Ukraine and Russia are both majority Orthodox countries, but since Russia illegally annexed Crimea and began supporting separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region in 2014, a large part of the Orthodox community in Ukraine has moved away from Moscow. ![]() The legislation’s sponsors said its passage would help Ukraine "abandon the Russian heritage of imposing the celebration of Christmas on January 7," and help Ukrainians "live their own life with their own traditions (and) holidays." President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the bill into law on Friday after it was passed by Ukraine’s parliament earlier this month. ![]() Ukraine has passed legislation moving its official Christmas holiday to December 25, further distancing itself from the traditions of the Putin-aligned Russian Orthodox Church, which celebrates the holiday on January 7. CNN has geolocated a video to an area just east of the small villages of Nove and Kharkove, near Robotyno, along the Melitopol axis in the Zaporizhzhia region. Ukrainian forces this week for the first time reached Russia’s critical "dragon's teeth" fortification, part of Moscow's main line of defense. Satellite imagery had previously shown that Russia installed the "dragon's teeth" lines - concrete and rebar pyramids designed to block the advance of armored vehicles - across the territory it controls in Ukraine. "The blast wave knocked out windows in high-rise buildings and damaged the building of an educational institution and a supermarket," he added.įurther south in the Zaporizhzhia region: On Friday, a Ukrainian commander on the southern front said that his forces are “having some success” in driving back Russian forces, but intense combat continues. ![]() Another woman was injured,” secretary of the Zaporizhzhia City Council, Anatolii Kurtev, said on Telegram. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |