MOSCOW, January 7. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended his congratulations to all Russian people on Orthodox Christmas holiday, the Kremlin’s press office said in a statement on Wednesday.
"This wonderful holiday illuminates the world with the light of kindness and love, giving millions of people hope and the joy of communion with the spiritual traditions of our forebears, passed down from generation to generation," the statement quoted the Russian president as saying.
"I would like to note with deep appreciation the immense and truly unique contribution made by the Russian Orthodox Church and other Christian denominations to strengthening social unity, preserving our rich historical and cultural heritage, and fostering the patriotic and moral upbringing of young people," Putin said.
"Religious organizations devote tireless attention to works of mercy and charity, care for those in need, support participants and veterans of the special military operation, and do much to promote harmonious interfaith and interethnic dialogue in our country. This important and much-needed work deserves the most sincere recognition," he continued.
"I wish Orthodox Christians and all those who celebrate Christmas good health, success and all the very best," the Russian president added.
This year, Russian President Putin attended an overnight Orthodox Christmas service at the Church of the Great Martyr George the Victorious in the Moscow Region.
"After the service concluded, the head of state spoke with people who gathered at the church," the Kremlin’s press office said in its statement.
As a rule, Putin celebrates Christmas outside Moscow, while on Easter he usually goes to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. However, last year he attended an overnight Orthodox Christmas service at the Church of St. George the Victorious on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow.
In 2024 he was for the Christmas service at the Church of the Image of the Savior, located at his presidential residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow and in 2023 he attended the service at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Moscow Kremlin.
In 2022, he also marked Christmas at the Church of the Image of the Savior in his presidential residence. In 2021, the Russian head of state attended a Christmas service at the Church of St. Nicholas on Lipno Island near Veliky Novgorod.
On three occasions, in 2012, 2019 and 2020 Putin went to a Christmas service at the Transfiguration Cathedral in St. Petersburg, where he was baptized in infancy.
In 2018, Putin celebrated Christmas in St. Petersburg, at the Church of Simeon and Anna on Mokhovaya Street, where his own father was baptized.
In 2017, he attended a Christmas service in the St. George's (Yuriev) Monastery in Veliky Novgorod, and in 2016, at a rural Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God near Voronezh. Before that Putin for two years in a row went to Christmas services near Sochi: the Church of the Holy Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, built near Olympic Park, and the Holy Trinity St. George's Monastery in the Lesnoye village, the Adler district.
In other years, Putin went for Christmas to the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God in the village of Turginovo, the Tver Region, the church of the Holy Martyrs Alexander and Antonina in the village of Selishche, the Kostroma Region, the Candlemas Church in the village of Solomennoye in Karelia, the St. Procopius’s Cathedral in Veliky Ustyug and the New Jerusalem Monastery. In 2006, Putin went to a church in Yakutsk, where outside air temperatures on that day fell 50 degrees below freezing.
Besides last year and the year of 2023, Putin marked Christmas in Moscow in 2001 at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and in 2000, when he, while serving as Russia’s acting president, appeared at the Christmas service in the Trinity Church on Sparrow Hills.