Instead of Christmas: Zelensky declares January 7 Programmer’s Day

Zelensky’s Christmas greeting in 2024. Photo: Office of the President

On December 24, 2025, Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree establishing a new professional holiday – Programmer’s Day. The document was published on his Telegram channel by MP Oleksii Honcharenko. Zelensky determined that the most suitable date for the new holiday would be January 7 – the day on which the Nativity of Christ is celebrated according to the Julian calendar.

“Taking into account the significant contribution of information technology specialists to the development of the digital economy and the state’s digital security, which plays an important role in strengthening Ukraine’s national security and defense capability, as well as with the aim of developing the IT industry, I hereby decree: to establish a professional holiday in Ukraine – Programmer’s Day, to be observed annually on January 7,” Zelensky wrote.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Zelensky had instructed the Verkhovna Rada to prepare proposals for revising the calendar of public holidays and commemorative dates. He stated this on December 22 in his evening video address.

Read also