Christmas season without its traditional flash in Ukraine

Kyiv, The Gulf Observer: Just a year ago, Sophia Square in Kyiv was all about the big Christmas tree and thousands of lights spreading over the plaza. These final days of 2022, in the middle of a war that has ravaged the country for 10 months, a more modest tree stands there, its blue and yellow lights barely breaking the gloom of the square that is otherwise dark apart from the headlights of cars.

In recent months, Russia has been targeting the energy infrastructure, aiming to cut electricity and heating to Ukrainians, as the freezing winter advances. And although the Ukraine government tries to move as fast as it can, it’s been practically impossible to restore power for every single person in the country, including the more than 3 million residents of the capital.

There are days when streets in Kyiv’s downtown have light, but the authorities have imposed some restrictions and scheduled power cuts, meaning that there’s no traditional gleaming city during the Christmas season.

But even in these gloomy moments, some people have decided to show their determination and rescue whatever they can these holidays — like the Christmas tree, still standing proud even if it doesn’t have the brightness of recent years.

Kyiv’s Mayor, Vitali Klitschko, announced the installation of the Christmas tree, saying it was going to be named the “Tree of Invincibility.”

“We decided that we wouldn’t let Russia steal the celebration of Christmas and New Year from our children,” he said. The name, he added, was “because we Ukrainians cannot be broken.”

The “Tree of Invincibility” was inaugurated on Dec. 19, the same day that Russia launched a drone attack against Kyiv, but damaged only a power plant that didn’t caused a massive blackout in the city.

Unlike previous years, when along with the tens of thousands of bulbs, Sophia Square was full of music and cheerful people, now the only noise on the plaza is the sound of a generator powering the lights of the 12-meter (40 foot) tree. On top of it, there is no star of Bethlehem’s but instead a trident, Ukraine’s symbol.

In stark contrast, in the Russian-occupied city of Luhansk, a large Christmas tree has been erected and on Friday evening people came out to admire its bright lights and watch entertainment, including dancers dressed in the colors of the Russian flag.