On the holidays, efforts to distract Ukrainian kids from war

By HANNA ARHIROVA
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — In a country where children have experienced nearly 10 months of war, there are people trying to bring some peace and happiness to kids, at least for a moment during this holiday season in Ukraine. That has been happening this week in the outskirts of Kyiv at what used to be an upscale hotel. Now it’s a rehabilitation center housing children who have experienced the horrors of the Russian invasion. “When it’s a holiday, it’s easier,” said Ksenia, a 12-year-old girl from Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine that has been the epicenter of a fierce battle between the Russian and Ukrainian armies.