Good morning to readers; #Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.
#Pokrovsk, birthplace of 'Carol of the Bells', is being destroyed by Russian fire.
That’s where Father Oleksandr built his church while working night shifts in the mines. But today, his city, and his church, are in ruins. https://www.counteroffensive.news/p/russia-incinerates-birthplace-of
@timkmak Russians doing russian things.
They didn’t get nicknamed ’orcs’ for nothing.
@timkmak
The funny thing is: Shchedryk is not a Christmas but a New Year's Eve song (Shchedryj vechir, "generous evening" which is 31 December). Only in North America it got rebranded into a Christmas song since there was no similar singing tradition on New Year's Eve.
Fun fact #2: Carol of the Bells based on Shchedryk is a thing only in North America, maybe in Great Britain too (since their popular culture is strongly influenced by US), but it is hardly known in continental Europe.
Never forget: Russia is a terrorist state.
“[The enemy] is destroying the home where such a great song was created that inspires everyone…Yes, it was born in Pokrovsk,” priest Oleksandr Soldatenko said of one of the world’s most well-known Christmas carols.
#Russians have surrounded it from three sides, infiltrating the city center and capturing it district by district.
This year, the city of the carol will likely mark its last #Christmas under Ukrainian flags before it is completely reduced to ashes.
However, at #Christmas time, its significance transcends politics. The destruction of Pokrovsk would be a loss not only for Ukraine but for the whole world, marking the erasure of a global cultural cradle.
Oleksandr heard Shchedryk, as Ukrainians call it, for the first time in his grandmother’s house when he was a small child. In #Pokrovsk, as in any other region of Ukraine, children dressed up during #Christmas celebrations and knocked on neighbors’ doors to sing carols in exchange for small gifts like candy, food, or money.
“I remember how we had pockets full of candy, a good mood, and relatives even gave me some money. It was very exciting because you could buy something,” Oleksandr said.
Want to find out more about Oleksandr's hometown and the history behind this song? Read the full story through the link https://www.counteroffensive.news/p/russia-incinerates-birthplace-of
#NEWS OF THE DAY:
ONE-OFF LAW FOR WARTIME ELECTIONS: Ruslan Stefanchuk, speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, has formed a working group to draft a specific, one-time law for holding elections during martial law, as reported by the Kyiv Post https://www.kyivpost.com/post/66784
RUSSIA’S #WARTIME #ECONOMY NEARS COLLAPSE: Despite maintaining strength throughout the war, Russia’s economy is nearing a breaking point. Plummeting #oil prices and massive debt in the defense sector threaten a systemic banking crisis by 2026, as reported by The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/12/22/russia-war-economy-ukraine/
#RUSSIAN WINTER SURGE RISKS LOGISTICAL COLLAPSE: Russia is launching a massive offensive in #Ukraine, but military analysts warn that poor weather and overstretched supply lines could turn the surge into a costly failure, according to Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/vikrammittal/2025/12/23/russia-risks-logistics-crisis-with-winter-troop-surge-in-ukraine/
The birthplace of that song, he said, is now “soaked in blood.”
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