Santa Claus receives letter from Ukrainian child, moving letter reassures hope

In the video shared by news agency Associated Press, the “postal elf” is heard reading children’s letters to Santa. She reads out the letter, “Good afternoon, Santa Claus. My name is Petro, and I have a sister. Her name is Stefania. I am six years old, and my sister is two and a half. We used to live in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. But now because of war, we live in western Ukraine.”

The postal elf further says, “There seems to be, of course, worry about the situation in their home country. But it seems that there is still always a little bit of hope, including these letters. So, even people who have to move from their houses and their homes, they’re still hoping for the better future, as we all do for Ukraine.”

Shining light on Christmas celebrations earlier in Ukraine, a Twitter user Eric posted photos purportedly from Independence Square from 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. The central square in Kyiv is usually all decked up with massive decorations while this year there is only little decoration. However, in 2020 and 2021, the square looked empty owing to the coronavirus pandemic.