Now that most of us have put Christmas in the rear-view mirror, it’s the season when most people think about the future. A new year is rapidly approaching, and we’ll likely make resolutions intended to put us on a better path for 2023.
Many may wish to read more, get back to the gym and eat healthier food at home more often.
In Ukraine however, things like celebrating Christmas and planning for a bright future in the New Year are far from most people’s minds. The only resolution being made by Ukrainians for 2023 is for victory and pushing the Russians out of the country, once and for all.
Resolve or resolution
The Ukrainian resolve for defeating Russia is absolute. They actually moved Christmas to December 25th instead of January 7th, the usual day to celebrate in the predominantly Orthodox country. Why? To further break ties with Russia, also mostly Orthodox.
The Russian language, spoken by a large number of Ukrainians, is now considered distasteful and unacceptable. Restaurant servers and Uber drivers often ignore those speaking Russian.
A future worth fighting for
This is hardly surprising considering the daily missile and drone attacks on critical infrastructure and civilians in cities across the country. Barbaric attempts to break the will of the people are only making Ukrainians even more committed to the defeat of Russia in 2023.
As we approach a new year, the Ukrainian people face the same old problems of power outages, water shortages and no heat. The war is still being fought in the Donbas region and soon Crimea, and many more will die on both sides. Christmas was not something to celebrate this year, but the dawn of a New Year will be different.