Programmer’s Day Replaces Traditional January 7 Nativity in Official Ukrainian Calendar
Ukraine has officially designated January 7 as Programmer’s Day, though millions of Orthodox believers will continue to celebrate Christmas on that date.
KYIV, UKRAINE — On December 24, 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a presidential decree designating January 7—traditionally Christmas Day in Ukraine—as the new professional holiday, Programmer’s Day. The decree, published by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, reflects ongoing reforms to the national calendar aimed at aligning public holidays with Ukrainian state ideology.
Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, explained that the reforms create a unified “calendar map” emphasizing national identity, noting that calendar dates carry symbolic meaning about who is “with us and who is against us.” He cited the recent official move of Christmas to December 25 as part of this process.
Despite the state decree, January 7 remains Christmas for many Orthodox Christians worldwide, including the Jerusalem Patriarchate, Serbian, Georgian, Polish, and Macedonian Orthodox Churches, as well as Mount Athos monasteries. Millions of Ukrainian Orthodox believers continue to observe January 7 in accordance with centuries-old liturgical tradition.
Previously, the UOJ reported that a "priest" blogger of the OCU called traditional Nativity fasting rules a Russian invention.
