New Year’s Eve in Ukraine: How soldiers experience New Year’s at the front (video)

STORY: Most of all, many people wish for peace in the new year. And hardly anyone as much as these men at the front in eastern Ukraine, in the Donetsk region. They too tried to celebrate New Year’s Eve. But it is a New Year that is dominated by what is happening in the war, especially for them. Pavlo Pryzhenhodskiy, soldier: “It is sad that instead of gathering with friends, celebrating and giving each other gifts, people are being forced to seek shelter. And that some of them have even been killed. I just found out, Some of our soldiers died at the front today. People were also killed in Kyiv. It’s sad. It’s very sad. It’s a great tragedy that can never be forgiven. That’s why this New Year’s Eve is just sad.” Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression since the end of February 2022. Heavy fighting is currently being reported from the east of the country, from the Donetsk region. However, most of the information cannot be independently verified. According to reports from local people, explosions were also heard in and around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on New Year’s Eve. And sirens wailed across the country. Shortly before midnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed in a New Year’s video message that his only wish for all Ukrainians for 2023 was victory in the war against Russia. He said: “We are ready to fight for freedom. That is why each of us is here. I am here. We are here. You are here. Everyone is here. We are all Ukraine.”