Displaced Ukrainians mark sombre Orthodox Christmas far from war-torn home | 24CA News

For Ukrainians spending their first vacation season away from house, this 12 months’s Orthodox Christmas celebrations have been muted, centered on prayers that the battle of their homeland involves an finish.

Natalia Kohanova and her teenage son Mykhailo Kohanov arrived in Brandon, Man., in mid-June — escaping the Russian invasion that devastated their house metropolis of Irpin and becoming a member of the big Ukrainian group in southwest Manitoba. 

Their new house has been modestly embellished with Christmas objects all donated by the group and associates.

“All decorations on our Christmas tree — it’s all like presents from Canadians. They think about us, they support us and every time think about what we need,” Kohanova mentioned. “It’s so beautiful for us.”

They share the house with three different displaced Ukrainians — 19-year-old pupil Kateryna Sofishchenko, Hanna Prykhodko and her eight-year-old son Illia.

In Ukraine, Kohanova and her household often have fun each Christmas in December and Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7. But this 12 months they are saying it’s exhausting to seek out causes to really feel festive.

“We cannot … celebrate because my parents and [Mykhailo’s] grandma and grandfather right now are in Ukraine,” she mentioned. 

“We think about our family,” she mentioned. “I know that [my] parents are shot at every day, and we work so as not to think about it.”

She’s spent her holidays fascinated about the battle, praying and hoping that the individuals she loves keep protected.

Sofishchenko, who hails from Kyiv, got here to Brandon in August, as late within the 12 months as doable as a result of she needed to be along with her dad and mom, who stayed behind. She’s now attending Assiniboine Community College.

Her household would not have fun Orthodox Christmas or Christmas, she mentioned, however all the time hosts a giant feast celebrating New Year’s along with her grandparents; a spotlight of which can be a particular conventional dish, kutia, sometimes served in the beginning of Orthodox Christmas’s 12-course meals.

Sofishchenko and her housemates had a modest vacation celebration with a smaller meal. They say it may be tough to plan as a result of it is tiring adjusting to life in Canada, working and faculty.

She agrees it might really feel unusual getting too festive due to the difficult 12 months and ongoing battle.

“I’m not really in the Christmas spirit,” Sofishchenko mentioned. “When I think about home it’s quite sad.” 

Not being at house for the vacations has been a lonely expertise.

Before coming to Canada Sofishchenko spent months in Denmark and Germany, and at instances, house has felt like a distant reminiscence. She says, even when she was house, she is aware of the vacation spirit can be dimmed due to ongoing Russian aggression.

“It would still be pretty stressful, you know all this rocket launches and stuff like that,” she mentioned.

“It’s not home home, because home is a place where you’re safe.”

The Ukrainian-Canadian Congress estimates round 11,000 Ukrainians have settled in Manitoba beneath emergency journey measures launched final 12 months. More than 70 have settled in Brandon with assist from the Tryzub, a department of the congress that primarily helps new arrivals.

Kohanova praises Tryzub for its group assist and the various occasions and fundraisers it has held to learn Ukraine. She says these occasions are necessary as a result of Tryzub helps convey the group collectively and guaranteeing individuals really feel related regardless that they’re outdoors Ukraine.

“It’s great people because they understand what we’re feeling and so much help to us,” Kohanova mentioned.