On Christmas Eve, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed his compatriots with a Christmas message of encouragement in the face of Russia's ongoing invasion.
"In the end, darkness will lose. Evil will be defeated," Zelensky said in the video message published on Sunday.
He added that the whole country would pray together during the holidays "for our freedom. For our victory. For our Ukraine."
Zelensky thanked Ukrainian soldiers who are spending Christmas in the trenches at the front, and also shared his thoughts with all the families who will once again have to celebrate this year without husbands, sons and fathers who are fighting.
"All our warriors of light, the guardian angels of Ukraine," Zelensky said. "They prove that miracles exist, but we must create them ourselves."
Ukraine has shifted the celebration of Christmas to December 25, the date in which the holiday is celebrated in much of the world, from January 7, the date of the holiday in the Russian Orthodox Church.
Only the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has long been linked to Moscow, has stuck with the old date.
