(19 Dec 2014) Crowds gathered outside Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Kiev on Friday evening for the switching on of a large Christmas tree.
The event was held on St. Nicholas Day, which celebrates one of Ukraine's most important saints.
According to Ukrainian tradition, each year on 19 December, children expect the saint to sneak into their houses and leave presents.
Actors dressed in traditional Ukrainian costumes, including one portraying Saint Nicholas, performed on stage at Friday's Christmas lights switch-on.
The festivities come at the end of a difficult year for Ukraine, which has seen government troops battling pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country and the Russian annexation of the Crimea peninsula.
The Mayor of Kiev, Vitaly Klitschko, who attended the lights switch-on, said on Friday that "the battle continues" for Ukraine to become a "a free, democratic, modern European country."
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