Millions of Russians celebrate Orthodox Christmas on Wednesday a background of ruble crisis and tensions in the Ukrainian conflict. Russian Patriarch Kirill, called that night his followers to pray for peace in Ukraine, at the Mass given night at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. A Mass at which the Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his wife attended.
It is 600 kilometers from where the Russian president chose to spend Christmas Eve. Vladimir Putin was near the southern city of Voronezh, the Church of the Intercession at Fili. The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on January 7 according to the Julian calendar, two weeks after the Catholic Church that it respects the Gregorian calendar.
