These photos of Ukraine’s Christmas decorations are both heartbreaking and hopeful

This year Kyiv’s Independence Square has been decorated only with a single Christmas tree.

Ukraine Kyiv Christmas decorations, Christmas tree decorations in Ukraine, powerful images of Ukraine, Russian Ukraine conflict, Ukraine war, Viral Ukraine photos, indian express

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Every year around Christmas, the Ukrainian capital Kyiv’s central square, known as Maidan Nezalezhnosti, is lit up and massive decorations are installed. There is a huge Christmas tree at the centre which is surrounded by markets and public events.

However, this year Maidan Nezalezhnosti, which translates to Independence Square, is empty of all its usual festivities with the exception of a Christmas tree that is decorated with white doves, symbolising peace. This is being done to avoid any attention from Russian air attacks as the Russian invasion of Ukraine crosses a 295-day mark.

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The stark difference between the Christmas celebrations of 2022 and the previous years was shared online by a Twitter user eric ✙ (@ericlewan), who posted photos of what he said were from Independence Square from 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. It is interesting to note that while the square seems populated in 2019, it looks relatively empty in 2020 and 2021 when the coronavirus pandemic affected everyone’s life.

the christmas trees of kyiv

2019 2020

2021 2022 pic.twitter.com/pM3Jdk7VZF

— eric ✙ (@ericlewan) December 17, 2022

This tweet has gained over 40,000 likes since it was posted on December 18. In the comments, many people pointed out that the presence of a subtly decorated Christmas tree in the capital is heartbreaking, yet hopeful.

Echoing their opinion about 2022’s decorations, a Twitter user wrote, “The latest is born of necessity in a time of war and the reality of night bombings, yet is the most beautiful and poignant of the four shown. Slava Ukraini.” Another person said, “I think it is better something than nothing. This could be seen as symbolic… a light of hope to shine for all soldiers and front liners to come home & a memory for all lost ”.

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