Kyiv 's mayor: 'We cannot allow Putin to steal our Christmas'

FILE PHOTO: A woman with a dog waits for a bus in a street without electricity after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine November 23, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

KYIV (Reuters) - Kyiv plans to erect Christmas trees, minus lights, throughout the battered city in a defiant display of holiday spirit as the capital area's millions of residents suffer through blackouts due to Russian attacks, officials said.

"No one is going to cancel the New Year and Christmas, and the atmosphere of the New Year should be there," Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko told the RBC-Ukraine news agency in an interview. "We cannot allow Putin to steal our Christmas."