Some 60,000 Ukrainians are estimated to be living in Finland now, nearly two years after Russia's full-scale invasion of their country, and they are trying to make the best of the festive season.
Many Ukrainians in Finland have traditionally celebrated Christmas on December 25, aligning with much of Europe. However, it was only earlier this year that Ukraine officially shifted the date of Christmas from the Julian calendar on January 7 to December 25.
Russia's full-scale invasion nearly two years ago served as the impetus over this change, although some people in Ukraine have been celebrating Christmas on both dates for years. The Guardian referred to the move as a 'snub' to Russia, further emphasising the growing cultural divide between the two countries at war.
Last week's episode of All Points North hears from Ukrainians in Finland changing the date of their celebration as an act of defiance.
Ukrainian Christmas in Finland
Nadiya Maksymyuk, Vice Chair of the Ukrainian Association in Finland, said her organisation has been trying to offer a place of community for the diaspora. A few weeks ago, they held a celebration on Saint Nicholas Day — the traditional day of gift-giving in Ukraine — where children received presents from what looked like a very Ukrainian version of Santa Claus.
Maksymyuk added that the association put on a production of Vertep, a traditional Ukrainian nativity play, in Porvoo, Sipoo and Helsinki.
At the Helsinki production in Helsinki Central Library Oodi, audience members and performers came dressed in their embroidered vyshyvanka shirts and elaborate costumes. Seats were hard to come by as the audience filled with young Ukrainian children and families spilled out into the walkway. For the Finnish-speaking members of the audience, there were Finnish translations of the lyrics and lines projected behind the performers.
Irena Hlushchuk said that her family in Finland will also be making the 12 meals of Christmas dinner, a tradition that predates the arrival of Christianity in Ukraine.
"The same traditional dishes that our parents and grandparents made in Ukraine, we will make here," Hlushchuk told Yle News.
Maksymyuk and Hlushcuk also stressed the revered position of Christmas carols for the holiday.
"It's the wishing of good luck and prosperity for the next year," Hlushchuk told Yle News.
However, with the backdrop of the war, Maksymyuk noted that the holiday has taken on a more sombre atmosphere for Ukrainians.
"This is definitely not the same festive mode that it used to be in the past. As you know many women are separated from their husbands and children cannot see the fathers," Maksymyuk told Yle News, adding that, "Lots of people lost their close friends and relatives during the war."
Similarities and differences from Finnish Christmas
While Ukrainians in Finland will enjoy their traditions, they have also learned to like Finnish Christmas.
Hlushchuk said that besides Finnish Christmas music, she enjoys the calmness that blankets Finland around Christmas.
"It's very different in Ukraine. Back home on Christmas Eve, people are outside walking, talking and singing. Here in Finland it's very quiet," Hlushchuk said, noting that Christmas this year will be like a combination of Finnish and Ukrainian.
Maksymyuk also pointed to some of the overlap between how Finns and Ukrainians celebrate the holiday.
"There are these so called tähtipojat [or tiernapojat] . There used to be these carols in Finland called tähtipojat or starboys that have This wooden star on the call and they were going from house to house singing carols and wishing people wealth and health," Maksymyuk said, comparing it to the carolling tradition of the Vertep play, which also uses the wooden star.
Soviet suppression of Ukrainian Christmas
"Many people actually started to investigate the real history behind the fact about the sense of January Christmas celebration and they realised that in fact Ukraine did celebrate Christmas before 1917 in December, with the rest of the world" Nadiya Maksymyuk, of the Ukrainian Association in Finland told Yle News.
Maksymyuk added that in 1917 the Soviet Union eradicated Ukraine's December Christmas. While the Soviet Union tried to subdue religious holidays and traditions, eventually they tried to readopt Christmas traditions for the secular New Year holiday. The Christmas tree became a New Year's fir and Saint Nicholas was replaced by the more secular Father Frost.
Anastasia from Mariupol, in the country's east and currently occupied by Russia, said that she still prefers the secular New Year holiday over Christmas
"For me Christmas isn't the biggest holiday, because I'm not such a religious person, I usually celebrate New Year as my holiday," Anastasia told Yle News.
However, she did say that she enjoys having an extra excuse to gather with the people she loves and to enjoy the traditional Ukrainian dishes that she misses in Finland.
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Stepping away from Russian influence
Anastasia also said that she thought that Ukraine's Christmas shift from January to December was welcome news.
"It was a step further away from Russian influence because the Moscow Patriarchate has had a significant negative impact in Ukraine for centuries," Anastasia said.
Nadiya Maksymyuk noted that this sentiment was shared by many among Finland's Ukrainian diaspora.
"For us living in Finland, it's very convenient to have all the same time with the rest of Europe. But I should also mention that during the last years more and more Ukrainians do not want to have anything in common with Russians," Maksymyuk told Yle News.
Many Ukrainians like Irena Hlushchuk felt very positively about the change. She said that it feels good to see Ukraine distancing itself from the traditions of Russia as Ukraine's historical oppressor wages war.
"This change was coming eventually, but it was really supported since the full-scale invasion started," Hluschuk told Yle News.
According to a Deloitte survey from November, 45 percent of Ukrainians will celebrate Christmas only on 25 December and 17 percent will only celebrate on 7 January. Roughly 32 percent of Ukrainians plan on celebrating on both dates.
Ukrainians in Finland like Hlushcuk and Maksymyuk said they had celebrated Christmas in December for years. The official change did little to change their plans this holiday season, but the decision showed a clear ideological shift away from Russia.
Correction 12.28.2024: Ukrainians in Finland Association changed to correct name of Ukrainian Association in Finland.
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