Ten archival photos reveal how Ukrainians kept Christmas alive century ago

December 25, 2025, 04:40 PM

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Vertep (nativity plays) in Velykyi Bychkiv village, Zakarpattya Oblast, 1920-1930 (Photo: From Vasyl Popovych archive)

In 1907, Kyiv Opera staged Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Cherevychky (The Slippers) for Christmas. The plot followed Nikolai Gogol’s Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka: Vakula and Oksana, Solokha and the devil - yet Ukraine’s civic-minded intelligentsia were troubled by what they saw as a Russified version of Christmas on stage.

Historian Mykhailo Hrushevskyi — who a decade later became president of the Ukrainian People’s Republic’s Central Rada — lamented that it would have been far more appropriate to stage Christmas Night by Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko.

At the time, authentic Ukrainian Christmas traditions were not found in the opera — or even in Kyiv at all. They lived instead in nearby villages and small towns, and across Ukraine on both banks of the Dnipro River.

Carol singing and Nativity plays were uncommon among Kyiv residents, and intellectuals interested in folk culture often traveled far from major cities to experience the true Christmas atmosphere.

What they encountered there is captured in ten photographs from different Ukrainian oblasts, taken at various points throughout the 20th century.

Carolers in Kyiv Oblast in the early 1900s / Photo: Ivan Honchar museum

A 1905 group of carolers in Serhiivka, Bakhmut municipality, including 12-year-old Marko Zalizniak, who later became a photographer documenting Soviet dekulakization in Donetsk Oblast — just 21 km from today’s front-line Pokrovsk / Photo: Holodomor-genocide National Museum

Nativity plays at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Berezne (1916 and the 1930s) / Photo: Berezne museum

Young men stopping by a photo studio before caroling in Zdolbuniv, Rivne Oblast, in 1921 / Photo: Oleh Tyshenko museum in Zdolbuniv

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Zelenskyy says mobilization could be scaled back or suspended after peace agreement

December 24, 2025, 09:08 PM

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Zelenskyy explained what will happen with mobilization after a peace agreement is signed. (Photo: facebook.com/okPivden)

Speaking with journalists on Dec. 23, Zelenskyy said the country would consider modifying its approach to mobilization if the agreement is implemented.

“Mobilization can be transformed or not carried out at all under conditions where there’s an agreement and it’s being implemented. Or, it could be partial — with partial demobilization. But the most important thing is not to lose the army for a certain period, not to lose positions. That would be very dangerous,” Zelenskyy said.

The president explained that even after the agreement is signed, martial law cannot be lifted immediately, and would likely remain in effect for several months — possibly up to six.

Ukraine first introduced martial law and general mobilization on Feb. 24, 2022, the day of Russia’s full-scale invasion. By law, both can be enacted for up to 90 days at a time, but may be extended repeatedly.

In November, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was mobilizing 30,000 people per month but noted that international partners and the military were urging the government to increase the scale of recruitment. He described the issue as difficult, citing the need to fund the state budget.

On Nov. 3, Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal announced that his ministry had begun drafting new types of military contracts that would define service terms and require corresponding legislative changes.

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