TRANSCRIPT
Ukrainian couple Vlad Guz and Sasha Soloviov are marking their first Christmas on the 25th of December.
To mark the occasion, Vlad has prepared a Christmas feast.
“I'm really glad that we are trying to get rid of Soviet Union past that Russia made Ukraine to follow many years ago, and now Ukraine is having direction to European Union and Western world, so it's really cool that we have this tradition now in Ukraine.”
While they are getting into the festive spirit, the absence of their family is ever present.
“Even though it's safer for us to be here in Australia, we really miss our families and hope one day when it's safer we can see them and celebrate together.”
For the last few years, Sasha hasn't been able to speak with his grandma - but this year, it will be different.
“Recently I bought a phone for my grandma, she's still living in Donetsk and I really miss her. She's pretty old and doesn't have internet. We already had a conversation and video call with my father and my grandma.”
The official Christmas holiday date was changed in July, when the Ukrainian parliament voted to move away from what it called "the Russian heritage of imposing Christmas celebrations on the 7th of January".
This is Vasyl Muyroshnychenko, Ukraine's Ambassador to Australia.
“It was a very symbolic sign of our unification with the West; there's been an ongoing struggle for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be recognised as independent from the Russian Church. Initially starting in 2014, when Russia originally invaded Ukraine, Russian Orthodox church within Ukraine has been used to subvert Ukraine internally by spreading propaganda but also being a source of intelligence officers who were concealed as priests.”
Religion has played a strategic role in the war.
Vladimir Putin upholds an interpretation of Orthodox Christianity which claims Russians and Ukrainians are one people who originate from the same Christian kingdom.
This is Doctor Olga Boichak, a sociologist and lecturer in digital cultures at the University of Sydney.
“We know the Russian Orthodox Church is essentially an arm of the Kremlin. It is not just a religious issue, it's not just a cultural issue, it's a national security issue for Ukraine - it is a major step in ensuring Ukraine's sovereignty in this cultural realm.”
That sovereignty is front of mind for many Ukrainians in Australia.
This is Uliana Kaletsky. She arrived in Australia about one and a half years ago.
“In Australia I am feeling, it's really hard for me, because a part of my family, my friends and cousins are still in Ukraine and they don't have the possibility to celebrate like I [do], in the peace.”
A bittersweet Christmas - as the war in Ukraine approaches its second year anniversary in February.
Ukraine's Ambassador to Australia:
“For every Ukrainian everywhere in the world it's a special day of Christmas, but also thinking about our soldiers who are out there defending our country and sacrificing their lives.”
