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Why Ukraine moved Christmas to 25 December
Summary
A retrospective on the law that shifted Ukraine's Christmas holiday away from 7 January, signed on 28 July 2023.
What did it mean to move Christmas by 13 days? On 28 July 2023, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed a parliamentary bill amending the Labour Code to shift the official celebration of Christmas from 7 January to 25 December.
The bill also covered other state holidays whose dates are tied to religious calendars. According to the stated aim of the legislation, the change was intended as a rejection of the Russian legacy of imposed Christmas celebrations.
The measure was framed in terms of the country's relationship with Russia rather than as a purely calendar adjustment. The signing placed the holiday schedule within the broader debate over what Ukraine should keep from its Russian-era past.
Elsewhere that week
A day earlier, on 27 July 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met Russia's defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, and a Chinese delegation in Pyongyang to mark the 70th anniversary of the cessation of hostilities in the Korean War. Kim and Shoigu also attended an exhibition of North Korean ballistic missiles, which multiple UN resolutions prohibit, resolutions that both China and Russia had endorsed.
