There will be no Christmas ceasefire in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Sources in Moscow ruled out a truce and instead have sent a barrage of missiles at the capital, Kyiv, in recent days. After nearly 10 months of war, fighting is set to drag on through the winter, with no end in sight.
The Guardian’s Isobel Koshiw has been spending the run-up to Christmas in Kyiv. She tells Michael Safi that winter is always tough in Ukraine but not like this year. The Russian army has turned winter into a weapon, attacking power grids, water supplies, and plunging Ukrainian cities into cold and darkness. It is making life for ordinary people miserable – and that’s the point.
Isobel spent some time with one family as they prepared to celebrate the season. Watching for air raid sirens, thinking about the safest place in the apartment to sleep, and figuring out – when so much has been taken away – what it is about Christmas that survives.
Photograph: Oleg Petrasyuk/EPA
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