People visit the Christmas Fair on Sofiivska Square in Kyiv on Dec. 27, 2021. The square is hosting the city's main Christmas tree. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
Unlike the rest of the Christian world, most Ukrainians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, not Dec. 25.
This is because most of Ukraine’s Christian denominations use the Julian calendar, according to which Christmas falls on this date.
But that is not the only tradition that makes Ukrainian Christmas celebrations stand out. Both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are filled with festive rituals that are hundreds of years old, and which many Ukrainians follow to date.
The Kyiv Independent teamed up with the Shadows Project – an initiative for young Ukrainians to interact with their culture and history in a contemporary way — to quiz your knowledge of these traditions.
Member of the Shadows ProjectMaryna Kryvoruchko contributed to this story.
Agatha Gorski is a contributor to the Kyiv Independent. She is the co-founder of the Shadows Project, a cultural initiative for young Ukrainians to interact with their culture and history in a contemporary way.
Russian air defense units intercepted 13 drones flying towards Moscow in under two hours, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported at around 1:46 a.m. local time on July 19.
The U.S. will send its next Patriot system to Germany rather than Switzerland, in order to speed up Berlin's shipment of two Patriot batteries to Ukraine, officials said.
The tanks were promised to Kyiv in October 2024, but delivery was reportedly delayed due to resistance from the U.S. The remaining tanks will arrive "in the coming months."
"The enemy continues to use small infantry groups, but they are powerless in their attempts to capture Pokrovsk," Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, reported July 18.
The Russian oil giant has been trying to sell its 49.13% stake in India's Nayara refinery, but the EU's latest sanctions package could make such a deal too risky for buyers.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Russian President Vladimir Putin that launching a third round of negotiations is important and that Turkey is prepared to host discussions in Istanbul once both sides agree on a date.
In an exclusive interview, Ukrainian anti-corruption activist Vitaliy Shabunin speaks out on what he says is a politically motivated criminal case against him, as well as corruption and the democratic backsliding in Ukraine.
According to the case file, he was struck in the face and torso by an enlistment officer. After he collapsed, the officer hit the man with a stun gun at least three to four times and struck his head against the floor multiple times, the records show.
