![\"\"](\"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEC_278290013-0220-300x169.webp\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
At 4am on February 24, 2022, Mariia Kushch woke to an explosion that shook the apartment building where she was living in a small village, just outside of Kyiv.<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t know it yet, but that sound confirmed her very worst fears: that\u00a0Russia<\/a>\u00a0had launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n As she scrambled to understand what was happening, her\u00a0phone<\/a>\u00a0buzzed: it was a friend, asking her if she\u2019d seen the news. In a daze, she told her that she hadn\u2019t. Her friend simply said: \u2018The war has started.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018I grabbed my son, just seven years old at the time, and we went to the basement of our building \u2013 a makeshift shelter of sorts,\u2019 she tells BAD VIBES<\/p>\n \u2018Each time I\u2019d go upstairs to gather food or clothes, I\u2019d look out the window and see the world I knew falling apart \u2013 helicopters overhead, smoke rising, explosions in the distance.\u2019<\/p>\n She heard machine gun fire right outside her home, and when Mariia learned that there was actually a battle happening in the forest right behind her apartment block, she knew that they couldn\u2019t stay.<\/p>\n Mariia now lives in\u00a0Hertfordshire<\/a>\u00a0with her son, and she still mourns the way her life has forcibly changed in the time since the invasion. It\u2019s been three years, but she says it feels like it\u2019s only been a few months.<\/p>\n According to statistics from\u00a0the UN<\/a>, there have been 53,006 Ukrainian civilian casualties, including\u00a014,534 deaths, since February 2022.<\/p>\n \u2018We have uprooted everything we knew: a new country, a new language, new schools for my son, new work for me,\u2019 the host of the\u00a0Ukrainian New Identity<\/a>\u00a0podcast says.<\/p>\n \u2018I miss Ukraine every day. It breaks my heart that I cannot return, that my home and old life are out of reach.\u2019<\/p>\n As Christmas approaches, Mariia finds herself reflecting on the Ukrainian traditions that will never leave her. Christmas is her favourite element of winter, and she describes it as a completely \u2018magical time\u2019 in Ukraine.<\/p>\n For Mariia, staying connected to her Ukrainian festive roots keeps her grounded \u2013 and one of her favourite traditions is St Nicholas Day, which falls on December 6.<\/p>\n Across Ukraine, children fall asleep with the hopes that St Nicholas will leave a present under their pillow. As Mariia recalls, if they misbehave, they risk waking up with a stick, instead. She jokes: \u2018Surprise surprise, the week before, every child across Ukraine becomes an angel.\u2019<\/p>\n In Ukraine, Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7, and the long festive season starts to wind down on January 19, the day that Jesus was baptised.<\/p>\n Mariia says: \u2018On that day, many Ukrainians will go into the freezing water and take a dip. We believe that, on this day, the rivers and water become holy, and that doing this will bless you with\u00a0health<\/a>\u00a0for the year ahead.\u2019<\/p>\n Carolling is also a popular tradition, and Mariia fondly remembers singing one called \u2018Shchedryk,\u2019 which translates to \u2018Carol of the Bells.\u2019 In her view, it\u2019s become a \u2018symbol of Ukrainian resilience.\u2019<\/p>\n Mariia and her son live a few doors down from another Ukrainian family, so this Christmas, they\u2019ll be celebrating together.<\/p>\n Throughout the month, they\u2019ve also been going door to door and singing carols, keeping the tradition that she grew up with alive.<\/p>\n \u2018It brings a little piece of home into our new life here,\u2019 she shares.<\/p>\n The last Christmas Mariia spent in Ukraine, mere months before the invasion, was the \u2018most beautiful\u2019 she\u2019d ever experienced. It was akin to a \u2018winter wonderland,\u2019 as the forest behind was coated in soft snow.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s painful to think that, just months later, that same forest became a battleground,\u2019 she reflects.<\/p>\n \u2018I remember feeling this overwhelming sense of happiness. I had my home, my son, my family. I truly believed I was living the life of my dreams.\u2019<\/p>\n Karyna* now lives in London, but she\u2019s originally from Kyiv. When the Russian invasion began, she could hear explosions \u2013 and they were close enough to alert her that something \u2018serious\u2019 was happening.<\/p>\n \u2018At first there was confusion and disbelief, and then the realisation that the invasion had truly begun,\u2019 she tells\u00a0Metro<\/strong>, noting that shortly afterwards, she decided to flee Kyiv.<\/p>\n For Karyna, the last three years have been a \u2018time of resilience.\u2019 This Christmas, she still feels as though the festive season is about \u2018togetherness and keeping traditions alive.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018I love the\u00a0Sviata Vecheria (Holy Supper) dinner with its twelve dishes. This year, I plan to make the meal and celebrate with friends here in London,\u2019 she shares.<\/p>\n \u2018I remember the table being covered with straw under a white cloth, symbolising the manger, and the way everyone shared\u00a0kutia, a sweet wheat and honey dish, wishing each other health and prosperity.<\/p>\n \u2018Another memory is the singing of\u00a0kolyadky, traditional Christmas carols. The streets would be alive with music and laughter, even in the cold winter. It was a sense of community, faith, and joy.\u2019<\/p>\n Looking towards Ukraine\u2019s future, Karyna feels hopeful, noting that the \u2018resilience and unity\u2019 of her people gives her great confidence that Ukraine will \u2018endure, rebuild, and thrive.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018The Ukrainian cause is about defending the right to exist as a free, independent nation. It\u2019s not just a geopolitical conflict \u2013 it\u2019s about people\u2019s homes, culture, and future,\u2019 she concludes.<\/p>\n \u2018Ukrainians are fighting not for power, but for the ability to live with dignity, make their own choices, and preserve their traditions.\u2019<\/p>\n Every month, Fynn Watt and Jacob Simpson, the minds behind charity\u00a0Driving Ukraine<\/a>, run a convoy that seeks to donate life-saving vehicles.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_278289837-e157-169x300.webp\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_278289838-455f-169x300.webp\")
<\/p>\n\u2018One thing that stays with me is the warmth and togetherness of Ukrainian family traditions\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018We picked up a Christmas tree on our way through Germany\u2019<\/h2>\n