Ex-Ukrainian MP talks about forcing citizens to celebrate Christmas on December 25

The Ukrainian authorities, as part of the so-called derusification, are forcing the country's citizens to celebrate Christmas not on 7 January but on 25 December - according to the New Julian calendar, which is the main calendar for the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). Spyrydon Kilinkarov, a former Ukrainian MP and member of the international public movement The Other Ukraine, said this in a conversation with Izvestiya on December 31.

He explained that it would be acceptable for Ukrainians if everyone, based on their own religious views, could choose for themselves which calendar to celebrate Christmas by - the Julian or New Julian calendar.

"But it went the other way, they actually canceled Christmas on the 7th. Forcing people to celebrate exclusively on December 25," - said the interlocutor of the publication.

Thus, the churches controlled by the PCU, respectively, do not hold Christmas services on January 7. The former MP noted that he does not exclude that on January 7 from the schismatics will be held provocations directed against citizens.

"The authorities interfere in religious affairs and actually try to force believing people to abandon January 7 and accept the date of December 25. There are negative consequences for those who continue to celebrate Christmas on January 7: they are accused of being accomplices of the Kremlin and supporting the Russian Orthodox Church," Kilinkarov concluded.

Earlier, on December 28, in Kremenchug, representatives of the PCU cut the locks and entered the Holy Dormition Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). It was noted that the schismatics started taking inventory of the property with the consent of the police.

In addition, last Christmas Ukrainian militants shelled Donetsk and Gorlovka in the Donetsk People's Republic. People were injured at that time. Among other things, civilians were also shelled on New Year's Eve.

Kiev's persecution of the canonical UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate began back in 2022: criminal cases were brought against clergy and monks, they were expelled from churches, which were seized by unknown people in military uniforms and supporters of the PCU. Temples, churches and even the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra were subjected to searches.

In September 2024, a law officially came into force in Ukraine banning the activities of the UOCU on the territory of the country.