​Recap and New Video
By Steve Richards

“Welcome home”, the customs agent told me when I arrived in Miami late last week from Warsaw, the last leg of my latest trek to Bucha. A flight that had me sitting next to a Warsaw native who told me about his last trip to Miami when he had to dive under a table when a shooting interrupted his dinner on South Beach. We “joked” about how life in the USA is not so different than life in Ukraine when comparing the chances of catching one’s demise from random, uncontrollable violence. Of course, in Ukraine the threat is a missile/drone strike, something I experienced for the first time this trip.

That is how we begin the short video (two and half minutes) we are posting today; a collection of clips from my trip that documents a bit of the holidays I experienced. It is set to Christmas music all are familiar with; the Carol of the Bells which is Ukrainian.

Since heading to Ukraine on Christmas Day, I’ve left a trail of posts from the road including Christmas in Kyiv – Lights, Trees, Songs and Missiles about the missile strikes I witnessed, New Year’s Eve in Kyiv – As Quiet as Could Be about the subdued New Year’s festivities in Kyiv, and Christmas in Vinnytsia about the ongoing Christmas celebration in Ukraine. All of these are represented in the new reel.

But the main reason I went to Bucha this time was to screen Back to Bucha for the stars of the film there. We premiered on January 5th with the sponsorship of Bear Witness at Jul’s Coffee and Peace, a place that all who have seen the film know well, especially its owner Julia, who has taught me so much about the holiday traditions there. Julia was raised in the Orthodox church and is a proud and patriotic Ukrainian from Donetsk. There is a readjustment for Ukraine’s Orthodox faithful to move the celebration of Christmas from January 7th to December 25th and most are still getting used to the idea, including the carolers we see in the Vinnytsia village.

Julia is a mother of five, including three young girls whom we see in the picture below with one of her sons and husband in front of the tree on New Year’s Eve, the time when gifts are often found under the tree. Here’s what she said about the festivities:

January 7th had me in Vinnytsia where my friend Ben introduced me to the local blacksmith he is working with for a traditional Christmas Eve dinner, an excellent night’s rest, then a Christmas Day breakfast with his family. Next a visit to the shop and a visit to a local Orthodox church where I caught villagers caroling house to house in the freezing cold morning.

The Ukraine premiere screening was in front of an enthusiastic audience including representatives from Ya Buchanec to whom I presented a $1,150 check from a fundraiser/screening at St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Boston. Being that they had no idea what to do with a paper check I went shopping the next day with Liubimyr Janov, head of Bucha’s Youth Council, to buy a powered speaker and camera for the local youth center to replace items pilfered by Russian soldiers during Bucha’s occupation. The remaining funds are being held on account which also includes additional funds raised at another St. Andrew’s screening, this time at the Episcopal church in Lake Worth, FL.

The video ends with real church bells from St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery. Framed in stark juxtaposition to destroyed Russian armor in front of the church, they are a fitting summation of Ukraine during the holidays where I’m pretty sure the Christmas trees are still up.

My first Ukrainian Orthodox Christmas Included Gifts, Feasts, Churches, and Angels Made From Shell Casings

​Yes, I know; you thought Christmas was over two weeks ago. And they were certainly celebrating the occasion around here then. But Orthodox Christmas was yesterday, January 7th and the celebration goes on. The trees are still up, and the store decorations are still out.

Back to Bucha’s Ukrainian Premiere on Friday included a ceremonial check presentation from the October 1st screening in Boston at the St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The next day had me using the funds to personally buy a new video camera and powered speaker for the local children’s center which replaced equipment pilfered by Russian soldiers during the occupation.

Then, I was on my way to Vinnytsia with my friend Ben to a small village outside of the city and a Christmas Eve feast with a blacksmith that Ben is working with, and his family. They also celebrated on the 25th with a more traditional western X-Mas when they all watched Home Alone together, a holiday favorite here too!

I’m keeping the names and exact locations a bit vague just in case anyone confuses their humanitarian work with something more offensive in nature.

We had a Christmas Eve feast that included hot borsht and an assortment of meatless dishes.

Then after some conversation with Ben providing translations - and a mammoth log thrown in the furnace – it was time for bed. The next morning, we had a breakfast of nothing but meat dishes it seemed. 5761

Then outside to the “forge” a few steps away to make “staples” and “furnaces” for the front lines. The staples are used to keep logs together inside trenches and the small furnaces they make out of scrap metal are used to keep soldiers warm. A difficult task when the thermometer will drop to -3F (-21C) tonight where I am in Lviv. This kind of volunteering is happening all over Ukraine to support the war effort in a myriad of ways. The blacksmith and Ben receive no remuneration for this work.

Before the blacksmith started making things for the soldiers, he made artisan craftsman work including churches nearby. He still creates artistic works like angel candle holders out of 30mm spent artillery casings. Before the war he also made metalwork for local Orthodox churches like those we visited on our way into the city. 

It was here that we met three village ladies caroling from house to house in the morning hours. I had heard to look out for these caroling groups in Ukraine but figured with the bombings of Kyiv I would be out of luck. These ladies definitely made my trip! 

Then back into Ben’s van (he brought it with him from the USA when he came five months ago) on snowy streets to the Transfiguration Cathedral in town.

We then got a tour of the church and also witnessed the funeral for a Ukrainian soldier there. They average about one per day we were told.

After a promise to come back I was promised a proper interview with the archdeacon host – including a discussion of their rather recent break from the Moscow Patriarchate and a Metropolitan still under house arrest.
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​All this in less than 24 hours. Then we piled back into Ben’s van and off to the train station for the next leg of my journey home.

Livestreaming From Bucha This Friday January 5th at 12:00 Noon ESTIt seems like only yesterday when we first walked into a blown-out Jul’s coffee shop just days after the Russian retreat from Bucha. No electricity, no water, no windows, just a few shell-shocked workers sweeping up broken glass in the cold trying to get to the point when they could offer free coffee to workers and neighbors starting to rebuild.

It is a fitting place to hold the Ukraine premiere of Back to Bucha as it holds such a prominent place in the film, including an interview with Julia, the shop’s owner who has rebuilt the place with the help of so many. The picture we are using to promote the event is of she and her daughter from a year ago when visiting the renovated shop, newly rechristened as Jul’s Coffee and Peace (https://www.julscoffee.com/en).

Taken all together they display the best of Ukraine and its Spirit. Because while Bucha is remembered for the atrocities committed there (Bucha massacre - Wikipedia) it is also the site of Ukraine’s first victory of the war as they forced the Russians into a humiliating retreat a month later; an example of what Ukrainians are capable of when provided state-of-the-art weapons like Javelin missiles.

Bear Witness, the film's Executive Producer, is sponsoring the free event which doubles as a fundraiser. Which is where our supporters and friends can make a difference. We will be livestreaming the hour-long screening beginning at 12 noon east coast time (7:00 PM Bucha time). Additional screenings will also be held at Jul’s for the citizens of Bucha on Saturday and Sunday. After the screening director Steve Richards will be joined by Julia and others from the film for a Q&A session. Ivan Rusyn from the Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary will also be in attendance and join in from Bucha.

​50% of the event’s net proceeds will go to providing free bags of Jul’s coffee to soldiers on the front lines. Here's a video of a soldier making a cup of Jul’s milled coffee at the front:

She has personally sent more than 500 bags so far.

To attend this event virtually go to: https://watch.showandtell.film/watch/backtobucha. 

See you there!

By Steve Richards

​Given that I’ve never before celebrated New Year’s in Kyiv I’m not sure what I should have expected. In the USA New Year’s Eve is generally thought of as the end of the Holiday Season which begins in late November with Thanksgiving then Christmas on December 25th, culminating with a big night of partying on New Year’s Eve. New Year’s Day is set aside for recovery. Resolutions are made, often not to drink so much for the next few weeks at least.

Ukraine’s holiday calendar is in flux due to the war. Used to be most of the country celebrated Christmas on January 7th according to the Orthodox church calendar. But patriotic fervor has caused the country to rethink that day because it is celebrated in Russia. December 25th has become the day for most here to coincide with European calendars. Additionally, for many the holidays really begin on St. Nicholas Day which is celebrated on December 19th and includes church services and gifts by the pillow for children.

New Year’s Eve here for most is a time with family and friends who celebrate the day together. Maybe a swim in a heated pool/spa, a nap, a feast with all kinds of traditional foods, gifts and a midnight celebration which appears to center around the kids. Or so I surmise. Again, this is my first time. Apparently though I still have another week to see what happens as I’m sure many will celebrate Christmas on the 7th.

My own quest for a New Year’s Eve experience I might recognize found me at a celebration at Kyiv’s Ukraine Hotel where I am staying. It promised a Gala Dinner and Festive Breakfast. With a $40 price tag how could I go wrong?

Well the dinner was amazing and provided eight plus courses – I believe dessert was the ninth, but I lost track. A $15 bottle of champagne was extra. But Kyiv is not celebrating anything too heartily at present. There was no band or dancing and a rather sparse crowd of 20 or so in the ballroom. The mirror ball was kept in the dark. The massive missile strike throughout Ukraine on Friday probably had something to do with the somber mood in Kyiv. Air-raid sirens and alerts have been frequent, and folks have been warned not to set off fireworks. 

All in all though I felt like I must have found the biggest celebration in town. It felt festive in a subdued way in the largely empty ball room, especially when a party of 10 or so young ladies showed up dressed to kill. I used most of the time keeping track of the throttling my Dolphins were receiving at the hands of the Ravens on the ESPN app. The staff tried their best and made it all work.

After I finished my dinner I decided to take a walk down to Match Restaurant just to see if any additional celebrating could be discerned. The hotel is in the center of town overlooking Independence Square. If there was anything going on in Kyiv it would likely be around here.

​Nothing. Zilch. Nada. It was a ghost town out there aside from a few stragglers and a group of youngsters hooting a bit on their way home to beat the midnight curfew, a few well-armed police officers standing watch. The food and coffee stalls normally open were closed up. The streets were empty. Fireworks were nonexistent and Match was closed.

So back to the hotel for me just in time to catch midnight merry making by the “crowd” in the ballroom which included the singing of the national anthem and a small dog looking for some petting, which I happily provided.

I’m thinking the crowd kept it going for a while, but I decided I could avoid a hangover if I just went to bed.

​Getting old I guess.

​The scene at the Ukraine Hotel at midnight on New Year's Eve 2023-2024 in Kyiv.