CBS News
Ukraine snubs Russia, celebrates Christmas on Dec. 25 for first time
Ukrainian Orthodox Christians attended services on Sunday as the country for the first time celebrated Christmas on December 25, after the government changed the date from January 7, when most Orthodox believers celebrate, as a snub to Russia.
“All Ukrainians are together,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a Christmas message released Sunday evening. “We all celebrate Christmas together. On the same date, as one big family, as one nation, as one united country.”
Aleksandr Gusev / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
In the southern Black Sea port of Odesa, churchgoers prayed and lit candles as priests in gold vestments held 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 with the whole of Ukraine, with our independent Ukraine. This is very important for us,” she told AFP.
Most eastern Christian churches use the Julian calendar, in which Christmas falls on January 7, rather than the Gregorian calendar used in everyday life and by Western churches.
Separately, Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 28 Russian drones out of 31 launched from the annexed Crimea peninsula on Monday as well as had also shot down two Russian missiles and two fighter jets.
Zelenskyy signed a law in July moving the celebration to December 25, saying it enabled Ukrainians to “abandon the Russian heritage of imposing Christmas celebrations on January 7”.
The date change is part of hastened moves since Russia’s invasion to remove traces of the Russian and Soviet empires. Other measures include renaming streets and removing monuments.
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine formally broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The political rift has seen priests and even entire parishes switch from one church to another, with the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine growing fast and taking over several Russia-linked church buildings, moves supported by the government.
On Sunday evening, worshippers packed St Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv — the headquarters of the new independent church — for a Christmas service led by the primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Yepifaniy.
Ukrainians around the country voiced support for the Christmas date change.
“We wanted to support what is happening in Ukraine now. Because changes are always difficult, and when these changes occur, more people are needed to support it in order for something new to happen,” said Denis, a young man attending church in Odesa.
At Kyiv’s Golden-Domed Monastery, Oksana Krykunova said that for her, after the invasion, it was “natural to switch to the 25th.”
She added: “I just visited my parents — my 81-year-old mother and 86-year-old father — and they accepted it absolutely (normally).”
In the western city of Lviv, which has been little damaged by the war, Taras Kobza, an army medic, said “We have to join the civilized world.”
Tetiana, a singer in a traditional music group called Yagody (berries), agreed, saying, “I’m very happy that we are finally celebrating Christmas Eve and Christmas together with the rest of the world. It’s really cool.”
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has also opted to hold Christmas services on December 25.
But the historically Russia-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church is keeping the January 7 Christmas date. This church claims to have cut ties with Russia because of the war but many Ukrainians are sceptical.
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 homes with elaborate sheaves of wheat called didukh. Celebrations also include singing carols called kolyadky, carrying decorations in the shape of stars and performing nativity scenes.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.