“The greatest Christmas gift to Putin” is the US political deadlock in Washington D.C. on more help for Ukraine.

This was the strongest argument of President Joe Biden when he made a renewed push for the approval of Congress.

Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in America recently to beg for more help from the US. President Biden received him at the White House, and the duo made a joint push for approval by Congress.

The Ukrainian president pleaded for more US help amid the standoff. His plea faced a political deadlock. He said that a “US gridlock is a gift to Putin’s sick clique.”

Zelensky is the sixth president of Ukraine since 2019. He was formerly a comedian and actor, born to a Ukrainian Jewish family. He founded the League of Laughter Youth Center in Ukraine. He starred in 10 movies and received at least 30 acting awards.

Meanwhile, even during this season of Christmas, the war between Ukraine and Russia rages.

The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down 28 Russian drones out of 31 launched from the annexed Crimea peninsula on Monday, as well as two Russian missiles and two fighter jets.

Ukraine is snubbing Russia by celebrating Christmas on 25 December instead of 7 January, when most Orthodox believers celebrate it.

Zelensky signed a law in July moving the celebration of Christmas to 25 December, saying it enabled Ukrainians to “abandon the Russian heritage of imposing the Christmas celebration on 7 January.” 

Ukrainian Orthodox Christians attended services on Sunday, 24 December, as the country, for the first time, celebrated Christmas on 25 December.

“All Ukrainians are together,” said President Zelensky in a Christmas message on Sunday evening. “We all celebrate Christmas together — on the same date, as one big family, as one nation, as one united country.”

In the southern Black Sea port Odesa, churchgoers prayed and lit candles as priests in gold vestments held a Christmas Eve service in the Cathedral of the Nativity, decorated with fir trees and a nativity scene.

“We believe that we really should celebrate Christmas with the whole world, far away, far away from Moscow. For me, that’s the new message now,” said one smiling parishioner, Olena, whose son is a medic on the front line.

“We really want to celebrate in a new way. This is a holiday for the whole of Ukraine, our independent Ukraine. This is very important for us,” she said.

Most Eastern Christian churches use the Julian calendar, in which Christmas falls on 7 January, rather than the Gregorian calendar used in everyday life and by Western churches.

On Sunday, Christmas Eve, worshippers packed St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv, the headquarters of the newly independent church, for a Christmas service led by the primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church also opted to hold Christmas services on 25 December.

But the historically Russia-linked Ukrainian Orthodox church keeps the 7 January Christmas date. The church claims to have cut ties with Russia because of the war. Under the Soviet Union, atheism was encouraged, and Christmas traditions such as trees and gifts were shifted to New Year’s Eve, which became the main holiday.

Ukrainian Christmas traditions include a dinner on Christmas Eve with 12 meatless dishes, including a sweet grain pudding called kutya.

People decorate their homes with elaborate sheaves of wheat called didukh. The celebration includes singing carols called kolyudky, carrying decorations in the shape of stars, and reenacting the nativity scene.