Ukrainians Try to Keep Spirits Up at Christmas After Difficult Year

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine—Since her first child was born, Svitlana has spent every Christmas with her daughter—until this one. Now a soldier, Svitlana, who declined to give her surname, is spending the holiday on duty close to the front lines in southern Ukraine.

“It’s hard when you’re constantly with your kid for nine years and now you have to be separated,” said Svitlana, 35 years old, who joined the army over the summer and works to keep troops in the trenches supplied. “I try to keep those difficult emotions inside,” she said.