Christmas in Kiev before and after the invasion of Russia: “Let’s celebrate it even without electricity”

on the one hand Christmas tree illuminated and surrounded by lights, on the other always a Christmas tree but almost completely in the dark, decorated only with doves of peace. The place is the same: it’s the famous Hagia Sophia Square in Kievbut the images circulating these days on social networks are from different years, from 2020 to 2022. In between, to serve as a watershed between light and darkness, the invasion of Russiawho will do the next Christmas in the Ukrainian capital very different from the previous ones.

The holidays come at a difficult time for the country and for the capital, Kiev, whose inhabitants are forced to live no water and no current after repeated Russian attacks against energy infrastructure, that they forced blackouts programmed. Meanwhile the winter advances and temperatures are getting more and more rigid: last Monday the thermometer marked -18 degrees.

But the problems do not end there. “Services are reduced to the bone, there is no water in many neighbourhoods, electricity during the day is almost a utopia, only generators manage to partially overcome this inconvenience. Today there was also a long anti-aircraft alarm that lasted from 12 to 16 more or less and we also had to take refuge in the subway tunnels”, he said a few days ago fanpage.it Denny Castiglione, head of mission for Mediterranea Saving Humans, which arrived in Ukraine on Monday.

In Ukraine “let’s celebrate Christmas maybe candle light🇧🇷 And this is not because of romance, but because there is no electricity. But we are not complaining, we will face this war for independence and freedom with dignity and success.” Volodymyr Zelensky to the US Congress during his trip abroad to meet Joe Biden and discuss more aid coming from Washington to resolve the conflict.