Ukrainians in Canberra continue to prepare for the Orthodox Christmas celebration in January

The eastern churches of Russia and Ukraine (but not Greece) celebrate the birth of Christ according to the old calendar, but Father Michael Solomko says that such is the revulsion against Russia that his branch of the Orthodox Church may adopt the western date, December 25.

"There's a lot of discontent after what Russia has done. The effects of the invasion have been devastating," he said. The decision to change the date will not be his. It will come from the hierarchy but he says, "they will want to separate themselves from Russia once and for all".

As it is, the next celebration will happen in January, and a celebration it will be despite the misery in Ukraine.

"There is a time for weeping and mourning, and we do not denigrate that," the priest said, "but we do have to keep the theme of the festival which is to celebrate the birth of our Saviour".

The run-up to Christmas starts in late November when believers fast, usually confining themselves to vegetables and fish, including prawns. The day itself is then the breaking of that fast, with meat dishes.

A place is set for those who have passed away, and that will be particularly poignant this January 7 because of the slaughter in Ukraine.

The priest said the empty place would be for the "souls of family members especially, for those who have lost their lives in that invasion".

The evening before Christmas Day will be the start of the festivities, as it is in the western church. The tradition is to have twelve dishes without meat or dairy products. Children look into the night sky to spot the first star.

The fast is then broken on Christmas Day when the celebration is very northern hemisphere - which means hot work in the Australian heat. Roast meat - maybe chicken - is on the menu.

"My mum used to sweat over the stove," the priest said. "The good old 'pull-out the prawns' and salad would be a lot more fitting."

It is a feast of meat. "We will have roast but the pastries are similar to meat pies. There will be dumplings with meat filling in addition to a roast."

And there will be drink. Horilka is the Ukrainian spirit, similar to vodka. It should be drunk ice cold and down in one, the priest advised.

"It has to be straight out of the freezer, followed by a nice cold beer. It is, after all, a celebration."

Despite the apparent festivity, the priest said there will be a somberness to this year's events because of the tragedy in Ukraine.

"We're not talking about small outages of power there. We are talking about widespread cuts to power and water.

"There's a lot of ill will."

The invasion - or what Vladimir Putin called a "special military operation" until very recently when he used the word "war" for the first time - has united and energised people of Ukrainian background in the Australian capital.

The Motanka Theatre performs traditional Ukrainian plays in the Ukrainian language. It is thriving. The company which includes some refugees meets three times a week to rehearse.