Christmas in Ukraine

Christmas in Ukraine
Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper by Jacques Hnizdovsky
Also called	Ukrainian: Різдво, Rizdvo
Observed by	Christians, many non-Christians
Type	Christian, cultural
Significance	Commemoration of the nativity of Jesus
Celebrations	Gift-giving, family and other social gatherings, symbolic decoration, feasting, etc.
Observances	Church services
Date	December 25: the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the Latin Church, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Protestant churches, the Stauropegion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Kyiv and the Romanian parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate January 6: the Armenian Diocese and Armenian Catholic Church January 7 [O.S. December 25]: Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and some parishes of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine
Frequency	Annual
Related to	Nativity Fast

In Ukraine, Christmas celebrations traditionally start on Christmas Eve, which is celebrated from December 24 to January 6, the date of the celebration of the baptism of Jesus, known in Ukraine as Vodokhreshche or Yordan, according to the Gregorian calendar and Revised Julian calendar by the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), the Catholic Church in Ukraine (including the Latin and Greek Catholics) and Ukrainian Protestants.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (except for the Romanian parishes)^[1] and some parishes of the OCU celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar, so the Gregorian holidays last from January 6 to January 19.

Christmas was largely erased from the Ukrainian calendar for much of the 20th century due to the Soviet Union's anti-religious policies, but many of its traditions survived and are being revived again. In 2023, for the first time since 1917, Christmas Day in Ukraine was officially on more western December 25, due to Ukraine distancing itself from Russia