Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has instructed Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, together with government officials and civil society representatives, to develop proposals for “defining new and logical approaches“ to holidays and special dates.
The Ukrainian leader outlined this in a video message posted on his Telegram channel.
“There are unfortunate calendar coincidences – and the war has caused many such changes, when days of tragedies fall on professional holidays. Or when, since Soviet times and the first years of independence, several completely different professional days fall on the same day. All this needs to be rationalized. Thank you to everyone who will help. Just as the original Christmas was easily accepted – moving it to December 25 – so other dates should be fair and correct“, Zelensky said.
The Catholic and Protestant churches, which use the Julian calendar, celebrate Christmas on December 25. The Russian Orthodox Church uses the Gregorian calendar, according to which Christmas is celebrated on January 7. In Ukraine, Christmas has been officially celebrated on December 25 since 2017. However, January 7 remained a day off and most believers continue to celebrate on this date.
In 2023, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, considered by Moscow to be schismatic, announced its transition to the new Julian calendar, which provides for the celebration of Christmas on December 25.
The same year, a law was passed officially moving Christmas to December 25 and eliminating the day off on January 7. Zelensky explained this need by saying that “Russian ideology has long been imposed on Ukrainians in many areas of life“.