In between messages about family and faith, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed “godless” and inhumane Russians, saying “we share a dream” in an apparent reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave his traditional Christmas Eve address on Wednesday night – in many Eastern European countries, Christmas Eve is as culturally important, if not more so, than Christmas Day – in which he talked about “love for our homes, our roots, our traditions”, the birth of Jesus Christ and the Russian invader.
Ukraine traditionally celebrates Christmas on January 7, in line with Orthodoxy’s Julian calendar conventions, but in 2023 it was changed to December 25 to ensure that Ukrainians would not celebrate the birth of Christ on the same day as the Russian invaders. Making an indirect reference to this, President Zelensky said in his Christmas Eve address: “Millions of us will wait for the first star in the sky tonight… Ukrainians are together tonight, celebrating Christmas on the same date as one big family”.
CHERNHIV, UKRAINE – DECEMBER 24: Chernihiv workers of the Voluntary Pivnicha volunteer organization, wearing traditional Ukrainian Christmas costumes, perform carols (Photo by Maxim Kishka/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Speaking about the war, Zelensky said: “For the fourth year in a row there has been an attempt to seize the war [Christmas] Away from us, and this is what we are defending today, our land, our families, who yearn for a feeling of peace and tranquility in our own home… Despite all the suffering Russia has brought, it has not been able to bomb our Ukrainian hearts which matters most.
Russia carried out further airstrikes throughout the night, on Wednesday, Christmas Eve morning, and Zelensky cited these attacks as proof of Russia’s godlessness and inhumanity. He said: “On Christmas Eve the Russians once again showed us who they really are, with massive shelling, hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles… This is a godless attack. This is how people act who have nothing to do with Christianity or anything humane, but we are holding it.”
Although he did not mention the President of the Russian Federation by name, he made an implicit reference, saying that Ukrainians were praying for the death of Vladimir Putin. Referring to the Eastern European tradition of Christmas, again beginning with youth seeing the first star in the sky on Christmas Eve, he said: “Since ancient times, Ukrainians have believed that on Christmas night the sky opens and if you tell them your dream, it will certainly come true. Today we share a dream, and we make the same wish for everyone. ‘May he perish’, each of us may think for ourselves.”
A sub-deacon carries a golden cross in front of the altar during the Christmas Divine Liturgy at the Golden-Domed Monastery of St. Michael in Kiev, Ukraine (Photo by Daniel Yovkov/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
Although these comments were restrained, Zelensky said that Ukrainians also turned to God to ask for “something bigger, we want peace in Ukraine”.
The battle continued overnight into Christmas Day, with over 130 Russian drones reported to have struck. Although it was a relatively minor bombing compared to some of Russia’s massive airstrikes last year, it is still said to have killed at least two people and injured dozens.
For its part, Russia said Ukraine also attacked them overnight and in the morning, adding that their air defenses intercepted 141 Ukrainian drones. The Kremlin said one person was injured and two fuel tanks were burned.
A woman holds a pine tree, known as a Christmas tree, at a street market near damaged buildings in Kiev during Christmas Eve celebrations on December 24, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Tetiana Dzaffarova/AFP via Getty Images)
