Christmas carols at the front

For the last six years, some 30 students from western Ukraine travel 1300 km to the frontline of the Russian-Ukrainian war, bringing the Christmas spirit to the soldiers stationed there.

Following an old folk tradition called Vertep, they go from house to house to sing Christmas carols and perform a short play based on the Biblical story of the birth of Jesus. In Ukrainian culture, Vertep performers are regarded as messengers of the Christmas spirit who bring happiness and peace to all the homes that welcome them – even in wartime.

Since the beginning of the war in 2014, thousands of Ukrainian servicemen and servicewomen have had to spend Christmas on the frontline, far from home and loved ones. The students come from the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv and bring humanitarian help as well as Christmas cheer.

They know - every serviceman and servicewoman needs a bit of celebration, even during the war.

Especially during the war.

The whole group spends two weeks straight on the road, visiting all the dislocation places of the Ukrainian army near the frontline.

Right there they stay for the night and get food.

“I love being here and sharing moments of happiness with those people. However, it is also bittersweet, since being here means that the war is still ongoing.” — says one of the girls from the group.

The idea for the story and the original piece was created in collaboration with Oksana Rasulova, a Ukrainian journalist who works on the periphery of social reporting.