While the holiday season is a time of celebration for most, the children of Ukraine spend their Christmas and New Year’s against the backdrop of war and, in many cases, away from their homes and families.

The Russia–Ukraine war forced more than 2 million Ukrainian children to cross into neighboring countries and displaced more than 1 million children inside the embattled nation by the end of last year, according to estimates provided by UNICEF. National Review had the opportunity to speak with three such children who fled their hometowns since the conflict began 22 months ago.

Dasha, 14, and her mother left their native home in Kurakhove, a city in the Donetsk region near the frontlines, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. Since then, the pair have wandered throughout Ukraine and temporarily migrated to Poland before returning to their war-torn country. The young teenager now lives in a children’s camp inside Ukraine without her mother. Both will reunite for New Year’s, but Dasha will return to camp once finished celebrating.

As the winter holidays wind down, Dasha wishes to see her other relatives and spend quality time with them again.

“In the near future, I really want to meet my family — my grandmother, first of all, my godmother and godfather. To gather as a family, to stand, to hug, not to let go,” she said. “Not seeing a person for two years is . . . tearful.”

“The ultimate wish of each child here in Ukraine is . . . to stay in a calm and safe place, so that everyone will have fun and spend quality time together,” she added.

Because of the war, Dasha was forced to give up dancing at her hometown’s dance school, which was damaged by shelling. She longs to dance again at a formal dance hall, where she can continue practicing her craft unencumbered by the Russian invasion. In the meantime, Dasha leads dancing classes at the camp in which she lives. She dabbles in a variety of dancing styles, including modern, folk, acrobatics, and gymnastics.

Nazar, 10, lived with his family in Mariupol before Russian forces besieged the coastal city, killing some of his closest relatives.

“The war took away my home, my grandmother and my uncle, who was a soldier. But also everyone else, and the city itself,” Nazar said. “The war also took away my toys. I had a lot of them there. I loved some of them, but I don’t have them anymore.”

The boy’s family did not celebrate Christmas this year due to the ongoing war. Nazar has two sisters, the younger of which was born during the initial shelling of Mariupol in March 2022, and his father is a soldier.

Maksym, 15, also grew up in Mariupol, where he lost his house and friends as the war started. He is currently separated from his grandparents, whom he used to celebrate the holidays with.

“The war took away a lot from me. I have no friends left . . . well, I have only my online friends from Mariupol,” Maksym said. “I can’t see my family, my grandparents are in Mariupol, they live in a dilapidated house there now.”

Because of the separation, his family did not celebrate Christmas together this year.

Maksym wanted to give a message to the entire world amid the holiday season: “The war in Ukraine is something that happens at the moment, and it’s not something that is to repeat once again.”

Nazar and Maksym both live with their mothers in safety; however, not every child in Ukraine is so lucky. Thousands of children and parents have been forcibly separated from each other by the Russian military, which keeps Ukrainians hostage at filtration camps located within the occupied territories before transferring them to Russia.

Nazar’s mother, Victoria, said she hopes the “moment of justice will come one day” for Russia’s abduction of Ukrainians and its numerous other war crimes.

To help keep their spirits up, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation put on many festive events for Ukrainian children in December as part of its monthlong New Year’s charity campaign. Since its inception 22 years ago, over one million children have received gifts from the Foundation.

This month, children were able to participate in A Call to Saint Nicholas and A Letter to Saint Nicholas, two programs that invited them to tell the patron saint of children about their lives during the war, share their dreams, and, in turn, receive words of support. Various festive and educational events were also available for children who needed the most support, in particular those from boarding schools, family-type children’s homes, and foster families. Some of the fun events that were held included master classes, adventure-style quests, theatrical performances, motivational speeches, educational videos, and gift exchanges.

Children across Ukraine can also tell their stories via the Museum of Civilian Voices, which so far has collected over 90,000 first-hand accounts from civilians of all ages affected by the war. Organized by the Foundation, the museum is the world’s largest archive of personal testimonies specifically regarding the war in Ukraine.