Skip to main content

Good morning to readers; #Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

During the #USSR, St Nick was replaced by Father Frost - an ice monster in Ukrainian culture.

Although Ukrainians are reclaiming St Nick, instead of toys, #kids near the front ask for power banks more than anything else.

#Kids #kyiv #ussr
in reply to Tim Mak

Tim Mak
Tim Mak
• •

“Dear St. Nicholas!

Please make sure that there are no explosions. And that everyone is alive. I love you and your holiday.”

Ksiusha, 7 years old

in reply to Tim Mak

Tim Mak
Tim Mak
• •

Letters like Ksiusha's are sent by thousands of Ukrainian children on the eve of St. Nicholas Day at the start of December.

Almost three years into the full-scale invasion, they are the only thing that can still bring tears to my eyes.

in reply to Tim Mak

Tim Mak
Tim Mak
• •
While children around the world ask #Santa for #toys, candy, and sleds in anticipation of #Christmas, Ukrainian children dream of sending drones to the frontline, sparing their loved ones from burial, and returning to homes destroyed by missiles.
#Christmas #toys #santa
in reply to Tim Mak

Tim Mak
Tim Mak
• •
Since the start of the full-scale #invasion, children have been particularly targeted. As of December, #Ukraine was searching for more than 20,000 children who had been forcibly deported to #Russia. Moscow boasted of having brought 700,000 children from #conflict zones into Russia.
#Russia #ukraine #invasion #conflict
⇧