KHARKIV/KOSTIANTYNIVKA — L eonid Onyshchenko, a gruff\u002Dvoiced 63\u002Dyear\u002Dold Ukrainian soldier with a thick mustache, has spent many a Christmas away from his…
Onyshchchenko joined the territorial defense force after Moscow’s February invasion, and has volunteered supporting Ukraine’s army in the fight against Russian-backed separatists in the country’s east since 2014.Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Calgary Herald, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Holding her three-month-old son Yaroslav with one hand, Maryna took a Christmas cake out of oven with the other. Vitalii helped two other sons, Petro and Tais, get dressed before the festive Christmas dinner. In the past, Ukrainian Christians mostly celebrated Christmas in early January. This year the holiday is celebrated by many on December 25, as Ukraine’s main Orthodox Church has broken with Moscow and turned its face towards the West.Article content
War has scattered the family. Maryna’s two older daughters and her mother fled to the western city of Lviv. As the family gathers around the table, Maryna calls her father to wish him merry Christmas. Little Petro takes the phone. “I just want to tell you that Christmas is coming and Santa Claus is coming. I was a good boy,” the boy says.“On one hand, we will see and hear each other. But on the other hand, we are hundreds kilometers apart. I cannot compare it with anything. But nevertheless, we are one big family.”
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