'Small oasis': Ukrainians celebrate solstice traditions

With war now in its fourth year, traditions hold deeper meaning

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Hundreds of Ukrainians observed the longest day of the year on Saturday with a midsummer celebration of some of their oldest traditions, a display of cultural perseverance in a nation threatened by war.

Rooted in Ukraine’s ancient past of Slavic paganism, the event, Ivana Kupala, features rituals and symbolism to honour the summer solstice, related to fertility, nature, purity and renewal - values that predate the region's Christianisation at the end of the first millennium.

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