RT Presents… Orthodox Christmas Celebrations in Russia and Abroad

Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias gave the traditional Christmas address to believers at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow (Federal City of Moscow. Central Federal District) RF on 6 January

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Believers gathered for Christmas Eve services at the Church of the Nativity in Krasnoyarsk (Krasnoyarsk Krai. Siberian Federal District) RF

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Christmas Day in Russia marks the birth of Jesus Christ according to Orthodox Christian Orthodox tradition

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Serbian believers took part in a ceremonial burning of the badnjak (dried oak branches), a Yule log symbol for Orthodox Christmas Eve, in front of a church in Smederevo, some 60 kilometres east of Belgrade, on 6 January 2015

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The vast majority of people in Georgia are Orthodox Christians. Early on 7 January, Georgian Orthodox believers went to Christmas services at Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi

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Songs play an important role in Christmas traditions, and Georgian Christmas carols have a spirit of beauty and dignity

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Christmas is a major holy day in the Orthodox world; in Cairo, Coptic Pope Tawadros blessed the communion bread during Christmas Eve services at St Mark Cathedral, the seat of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate

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The total number of Orthodox Christians around the world is about 300 million… Bosnian Serb Orthodox Hieromonk Andrej Kovacevic prayed on the eve of Orthodox Christmas in Sokolica Church, in Ravna Romanija, on 6 January 2015

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Greek Orthodox clergy waiting for the arrival of the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem Metropolitan Theophilos before the Eastern Orthodox Christmas procession outside the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, 6 January 2015

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7 January 2015

RT

http://rt.com/in-vision/christmas/

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ITAR-TASS Presents… Orthodox Christmas Celebrations Throughout the World

Christmas celebration after services at the Orthodox parish in Sosnovka (Zhaiyl Raion. Chui Oblast) KYRGYZSTAN, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the capital city of Bishkek

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President V V Putin attended Christmas Eve services at a parish in Otradnoye (Voronezh Oblast. Central Federal District) RF

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Christmas services at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow (Federal City of Moscow. Central Federal District) RF

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Chairman of the Government D A Medvedev and his wife S V Medvedeva attended Christmas services at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow

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Bishop Panteleimon Shatov (head of MP Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Services) amongst children during Christmas services in Moscow

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People arrive for Christmas Eve services at St Sava Cathedral in Belgrade (Okruz-City of Belgrade) SERBIA

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Coptic Orthodox Christmas Eve services at the Cave Cathedral of St Sama’ans in the Mokattam Hills overlooking Cairo (Cairo Governorate) EGYPT

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Palestinian Christian Greek Orthodox worshippers celebrate Christmas at St Porphyrios Church in Gaza City (Gaza Governorate) PALESTINE

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Georgian Orthodox believers gather at Trinity Cathedral for Christmas services in Tbilisi (First-Level City of Tbilisi) GEORGIA

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Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on 7 January, according to the Julian calendar, which is 13 days behind the Catholic Gregorian calendar. On the night before 7 January, Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias led the Christmas service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. President V V Putin attended Christmas services at a village church in southern Russia.

7 January 2015

ITAR-TASS

http://itar-tass.com/en/non-political/770452

ITAR-TASS Presents… Memories of Soviet New Years

New Year celebration in 1963 in the Dom Profsoyuzov, Moscow (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) USSR

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Ded Moroz and Snegurochka entertain children in the Kremlin Palace of the Soviets, Moscow, 1977

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New Year celebration in the Kremlin Palace of the Soviets

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New Year celebration in the Kremlin Palace of the Soviets

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Queue at Detsky Mir (Children’s World) toy store, Moscow, 1983

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New Year celebration in the Tbilisi Palace of Sports, Tbilisi (Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic) USSR

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Buying a new TV set ahead of the New Year holiday, 1963

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New Year programme on Estonian TV, 1982

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New Year celebration in a kindergarten, Moscow, 1964

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Sale on the Arbat ahead of New Year, Moscow, 1985

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Ded Moroz at a winter Pioneer camp in Moscow Oblast, 1984

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Antonov An-2 aircraft delivered New Year trees to residents in Bukhara Oblast, Uzbek SSR, 1965

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Ded Moroz and Snegurochka in Altai Krai USSR, 1980

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New Year celebration, 1985

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Ded Moroz leads gymnastics class in Moscow, 1985

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Ded Moroz in Riga, Latvian SSR, 1986

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The first official New Year performance for children in the USSR was in the Column Hall of Moscow’s Dom Profsoyuzov (House of Trades Unions) in 1936. These images recall Soviet New Year celebrations and activities.

29 December 2014

ITAR-TASS

http://itar-tass.com/en/non-political/769813

Editor:

THIS is the “Evil Empire” that pigs like Victor Potapov and Patrick Buchanan expostulated about. Living standards in the USSR were lower than in the USA because the Soviets had to spend huge amounts on armaments to defend against Western aggression and rebuild their war damage, all at once. The USA suffered NO war damage… so American boasting about the Cold War is wrong, not to the point, and mendacious in the extreme. The main Sov forces were in the Western Military District in Byelorussia, that’s where all the most-modern stuff was… the forces in Germany and Czechoslovakia were meant to absorb the impact of a Western attack. The history of the last twenty-odd years proves that wasn’t paranoia… the Anglo Americans are violent and peevish toddlers… ask the Serbs, Afghans, Yemenis, Palestinians, Iraqis, and Novorossiyans… and the Native Americans and Filipinos before them (a Filipino said, “The Spaniards were bad, the Americanos were worse, the Hapons were worse than that, but the worst of all were the New Americanos”).

The USSR was done in by Gorbachyov’s incompetence, not the “superiority” of the West. VVP is right… the fall of the USSR was a historical tragedy. These photos prove it. One last thing… this image set is NOT anti-Soviet… fancy that… it proves that Russians do NOT despise their past, as Anglo Americans do. I think that a new socialism is arising in Russia. A spectre haunts the country clubs and Tea Party haunts… methinks that the prideful rightwing obituaries for socialism were a bit premature…

BMD

ITAR-TASS Presents… Uncommon Holiday Trees From All Over the World

                           

New Year tree in the shape of an ice-cream cone, at Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure (TsPKiO Gorkogo) in Moscow (Federal City of Moscow. Central Federal District) RF

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A statue of St George the all-Victorious decorated like a Christmas tree in the centre of Tbilisi (Tbilisi Capital Region) GEORGIA

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Christmas Tree made of plastic cups in Kaunas (Kaunas City Municipality. Kaunas County) LITHUANIA

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An inverted Christmas Tree in the Galeries Lafayette in Paris (Département de Paris. Région Île-de-France) FRANCE

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Colourful Christmas illumination in Colombo (Colombo District. Western Province) SRI LANKA

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21-metre-high (69-feet-high) Christmas Tree at Seoul City Hall Plaza, Seoul (Special City of Seoul) ROK

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World’s highest floating Christmas Tree in Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State. Southeast Region) BRAZIL

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Installation of a New Year Tree outside a shopping mall in Beijing (Beijing Municipality) PRC

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30-metre-high (99-feet-high) Christmas Tree covered with 2,500 gold-coloured metal leaves in Byblos (Jbeil District. Mount Lebanon Governorate) LEBANON, 40 kilometres (26 miles) north of Beirut

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Lego Christmas Tree made of colourful interlocking toy bricks created by The Lego Group in Sydney (Sydney District) NSW AUSTRALIA

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New Year Tree made of colourful illuminated balls in Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure (TsPKiO Gorkogo) in Moscow RF

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Pakistani Christian boy decorates a tree in preparation for the upcoming Christmas holiday in the slums of Islamabad (Islamabad Capital Territory) PAKISTAN

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People stroll around a Christmas Tree in the Old City of Vilnius (Vilnius City Municipality. Vilnius County) LITHUANIA

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A metal New Year Tree outside of a commercial enterprise in Moscow RF

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Christmas tree near Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) MALAYSIA

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Countries around the world start preparations for the Christmas and New Year holidays from late November. The main symbol of the celebration is the decorated tree. Although most people prefer traditional designs, some do extraordinary decorations such as ice-cream cones, Legos, plastic cups, and other uncommon ideas.

26 December 2014

ITAR-TASS

http://itar-tass.com/en/non-political/769339