In Bakhmut, the Christmas Humvee from St. Mykolai brings presents to the children. Sonja sits inside the sheltered basement and quickly makes her own Christmas tree.

DLNews Christmas:

While many children unwrap presents at Christmas, Sonja (9) and her family have to hold out in a basement - because of the continuous Russian fire.

Unusual sled: Amid the war in Ukraine, St. Mykolai's Christmas Humvee provided a welcome respite for the children who have been suffering from Russian shelling for months.

For months, the Russian army and the brutal Wagner mercenaries have been trying to take Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, shelling the city with rockets and heavy artillery.

Groups of Russian soldiers keep pushing into the city's outskirts, but the Ukrainian defenders have always been able to fend them off.

"It's hard to live as a refugee, to give up everything."

 

Months ago, the family home was severely hit by Russian bombs. However, the family wanted to stay in Bakhmut because their apartment remained undamaged, apart from the broken windows. Now, they don't even have the apartment left on Christmas Eve. Several artillery shells hit the house, tearing holes in the walls. "The bombardment kept getting heavier; that's why we moved completely into this basement," says Svetlana.

The family lives with the dog Archie in two rooms – day and night. "We only step outside the door if the dog has to, but every step is life-threatening," says father Roman. So then he puts more firewood to keep the room warm.

Little Sonja and her parents, Roman and Svetlana, hold out in Bakhmut - but because of the heavy Russian bombardment, they only live in the basement.

The family only gets electricity from a generator and turns on their flashlights when necessary. Otherwise, a candle is their only source of light. In the semi-darkness, Sonja does arithmetic in her notebook; she hasn't had school for a long time. "I would like to have a Christmas tree like last year," says Sonja, while the muffled roar of the Russian artillery shells can be heard in the basement. Because it is too dangerous to take the artificial Christmas tree out of her apartment, Sonja makes a Christmas tree out of paper and looks at photos from last year's Christmas party on her cell phone.

"There is no internet connection down here, so we only get messages with a delay when we meet soldiers," says Svetlana.

They only found out about the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj (44) to their city days later. "It's good that he came to see how the situation really is, even though we didn't see him," says Svetlana. It is too dangerous to take the artificial Christmas tree out of her apartment; Sonja made a Christmas tree and Santa Claus out of paper.

Sonja would also have liked to meet Zelensky: "I would have asked him when we would finally defeat them (the Russians, ed.) and the war would be over."

The presents arrive in the armored car.

To make the children in the Donbas happy, Ukrainian soldiers near Sloviansk have thought of something special: They have decorated their Humvee for a holiday. Lights flash on the vehicle and on the roof; where many Humvees have a heavy machine gun used, gifts are in order.

At the wheel: Taras, commander of a unit stationed near the front. Today he put on the costume of St Mykola, who brings gifts to Ukraine.

The little ones were even allowed to sit on the Christmas Humvee.

When he and his team roll into the villages destroyed by Russian shelling in the Christmas Humvee on Christmas Eve, children immediately flock to the vehicle, recite poems, and receive gifts.

"We must bring some joy to the children who have been through so much at Christmas," says Taras. So now the soldiers want to visit other villages near the front with their Christmas Humvee and give presents to the children – far away from their families and children.