Video Message of the Head of the UGCC on the 202nd Week of the Full-Scale War, December 28, 2025
Christ is born!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
This Sunday marks the 202 nd week of the devastating war in Ukraine—a week that has brought new casualties.
Not for a moment, neither day nor night, have the weapons ceased firing. Unfortunately, the Russian side has very cynically dismissed the proposal for a Christmas truce in Ukraine.
The enemy is targeting the south of our homeland particularly heavily. Once again, Odesa and the Odesa region have been subjected to massive strikes. Our cities of Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Kharkiv, and Sumy were also ablaze. A particularly intense theater of war is the free, de-occupied, and heroically defended Donetsk region of Ukraine.
We especially implore God to protect our defenders near Vovchansk and Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, near Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad in the Donetsk region, and near Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Similarly, the enemy has attacked the western regions of Ukraine. Every night, the destruction of critical infrastructure in our cities continues with deliberate intent.
This week, Ukraine has experienced a sharp cold snap. Many people in cities and villages across the country have once again been left without electricity, heat, and other essentials needed to survive winter conditions.
Nonetheless, Ukraine stands strong. Ukraine is wounded and weary, yet neither broken nor defeated. Therefore, this Sunday, we want the entire world to know and hear that Ukraine stands strong, Ukraine fights, and Ukraine prays.
This week, Ukraine celebrated Christmas together with the rest of the world. More precisely, in accordance with our Ukrainian tradition, a whole Christmas cycle of holidays, folk customs, and the time of glorious Ukrainian carols has begun.
This is the fourth time Ukrainians have celebrated Christmas during wartime. And this Christmas spirit—this Christmas season, this celebration of the coming of our Savior among us—is a time when sadness and joy, tears and smiles, intertwine in Ukraine. Ukrainians celebrate Christmas, even though the circumstances in which they do so are becoming increasingly dramatic.
Indeed, when we look at the earth, at the darkness that the Russian occupier is spreading around us, we want to cry. But when we lift our eyes to the heavens, we see the star of Bethlehem, we see the heavenly light, and we hear the angels singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” A kind of supernatural, divine, heavenly joy fills us.
And that is why we celebrate Christmas. For us, Christmas is always a moment of encounter between God and people—encounters with those who need someone to inspire them with faith, hope, and love. Christmas in Ukraine is a moment of tremendous solidarity, when we share everything we have received from God and pass it on to our neighbors. Therefore, it is a time when, in the midst of darkness, we enlighten one another, sharing everything that brings light, warmth, and comfort.
Our caroling is a good opportunity to visit one another, bringing Christmas joy with us, exchanging Christmas wishes, helping each other in times of need, and welcoming into our homes those who, like the Holy Family, are far from home or have lost it completely.
In celebrating Christmas, Ukraine is strengthened in its faith. In celebrating Christmas, Ukraine finds our Savior, who was born among us today—incarnated; who became a Ukrainian soldier defending his homeland; a refugee who left his home; a Ukrainian volunteer who helps all those in need; a Ukrainian medic; a rescuer who today extinguishes fires and saves human lives.
In the mystery of the Incarnation, the Son of God is incarnated in the body, in the flesh of our people. And thus, we rejoice and sing that even today, in the midst of a terrible war, God is with us.
We want to congratulate everyone on Christmas. We want the whole world to see that Ukraine is celebrating Christmas. We strive to share the light of Christmas hope from Ukraine with all people of good will in different corners of the world.
But the most important prayer during Christmas in Ukraine is the prayer for peace. We celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, who brings God’s peace to Ukraine from heaven. We pray for all those who are working on formulas, agreements, and arrangements for a just peace for Ukraine and who are striving to stop and end this sacrilegious war.
We ask that the Lord God bless our homeland with His just, heavenly, Christmas peace.
God, Lord Jesus Christ, born today among us, bless our homeland with Your heavenly peace.
The blessing of the Lord be upon you, through His grace and love for mankind, always, now and forever, and for the ages of ages. Amen.
Christ is born!
