Ukraine's Christmas may be‘candlelit’ after attacks, Zelenskyy tells Congress

This Christmas, millions in Ukraine won’t have heat, electricity or running water, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday.

“We will celebrate Christmas. Maybe candlelit. Not because it's more romantic, no, but because there will be no electricity,” Zelenskyy said. But, he added later, “The light for our faith in ourselves will not be put out.”

Zelenskyy said even if Ukrainians were forced into bomb shelters by Russian air strikes, they would “sit down at the holiday table and cheer up each other.”

“We don't have to know everyone’s wish, as we know that all of us, millions of Ukrainians wish the same: victory.”

Zelenskyy arrived at the joint meeting to a standing ovation. Earlier in the day he met with President Joe Biden and held a news briefing.

This is the first time Zelenskyy has left Ukraine since Russia’s February invasion, which has devastated the country’s infrastructure and resulting in millions of refugees. Ukraine resisted the initial invasion and has been subjected to Russian strikes and brutal fighting in the country’s east.

The United States and other allies have provided billions in dollars in military support and humanitarian aid, most recently a Patriot surface-to-air missile system and about $45 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine.