Prayers for peace as Ukraine celebrates Orthodox Christmas

Christmas in Kiev.

Orthodox revelers parade through snow in costumes.

A priest holds an outdoor service as the sounds of music fills the air.

It is a time of joy and for traditional dancing at a time of an uneasy ceasefire between Ukraine's East and West.

A man offers a toast for peace.

Children enjoy the season on a horse-drawn wagon.

Similar scenes in the east - where residents take in traditional dancing.

Markets are filled with Christmas treats, and there is hope.

(SOUNDBITE) (Russian) DONETSK RESIDENT, NATALIA, SAYING:

"We only prayed for peace, prayed for peace. So that we are heard not only by Donbass residents, but heard by the whole of Ukraine. I think that people in Ukraine, even in Kiev prayed, that they also prayed for peace, and that we hear each other."

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko with his wife and children observed the Orthodox Christmas at monastery in western Ukraine.

Later Poroshenko and his wi