Letters to Ukraine's Santa: St. Nicholas

Friday was St. Nicholas Day, from which Santa Claus is derived. If children have been good, they’ll receive a present under the pillow. So: Mariana tries her hand at being a gift-bearing ‘wizard.’

Editor’s Note: The power was out for much of the day today, but we still put out our issue — and on time! Help us with our unique journalism this holiday season: upgrade now to become a paid subscriber and read today’s issue!

“Dear St. Nicholas!

Please make sure that there are no explosions. And that everyone is alive. I love you and your holiday.”

Ksiusha, 7 years old

Letters like Ksiusha's are sent by thousands of Ukrainian children on the eve of St. Nicholas Day at the start of December.

Almost three years into the full-scale invasion, they are the only thing that can still bring tears to my eyes.

While children around the world ask Santa for toys, candy, and sleds in anticipation of Christmas, Ukrainian children dream of sending drones to the frontline, sparing their loved ones from burial, and returning to homes destroyed by missiles.

A child plays as women rest on a bench in front of destroyed residential buildings in the eastern Donetsk region. (Photo by ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP via Getty Images)

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, children have been particularly targeted. As of December, Ukraine was searching for more than 20,000 children who had been forcibly deported to Russia. Moscow boasted of having brought 700,000 children from conflict zones into Russian territory.

In the occupied territories, Ukrainian children are subjected to re-education under conditions of relentless propaganda. There, students are told that Ukraine does not exist, and punished for the slightest criticism of the Russian invasion.

Meanwhile, in regions of Ukraine close to the frontline, schools struggle to function due to constant air raids. From a young age, Ukrainian children endure traumas caused by bombardment, displacement, and the separation from their families as they are split by war.

This is a story about how Russia has spent centuries attempting to erase Ukrainian identity, even manipulating joyful children’s holidays for propaganda purposes. Ukraine grapples with the trauma of a war generation that has never experienced peace.

What does almost every child near the frontlines wish for? A power bank. And learn about how Soviet authorities suppressed St. Nicholas in our reporter’s notebook, which is available to paid subscribers.