War has raged on in Ukraine from Christmas Eve and the morning on, with air raids blaring across the country. The Ukrainian air force detected 184 missiles, 59 of which were shot down, and 54 drones, 52 of which were deviated from their targets.
Cities like Kharkhiv put people in home quarantine, with planned heating and electricity outage at an unsavory moment of the year.
What is important to bear in mind is that before 2023, most Ukrainians celebrated Christmas on January 7 under the Julian church calendar. In light of Russia’s invasion, Zelensky formally changed the date to that celebrated in the rest of Europe, as per the new calendar. So Russia’s ideological flouting sent yet another clear message. The Kremlin achieved its goal of inducing a huge black-out across the country, interrupting Christmas.
Ukraine only split from a Moscow-run church in 2018, when it created its own independent – and very young – Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
“We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but that is up to them – we are not the ones refusing to negotiate, they are”, Putin said on TV last Sunday.
On the other side of the Black Sea, Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has firmly recommended through a travel alert that Romanians avoid all non-essential travel to Russia — particularly that involving longer periods of stay, such as academic endeavours.
This is because risks associated with travelling involve potential changes regarding stay status on the Russian side, they say.
If Romanians do travel to Russia, then they should avoid large crowds and public gatherings, and obviously not engage in demonstrations. They should also be in touch with the Romanian embassy in Moscow and regularly check their home country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website.
Romania forms a new pro-European coalition government amid protracted political crisis
