Russia's Santa Klaus changes his festive journey route due to war in Ukraine

Russia's Santa Claus train will be skipping some stops in the country this holiday season amid the ongoing war which began after President Vladimir Putin invaded neighbouring Ukraine.

The project, launched by state-owned Russian Railways last year, sees Ded Moroz, the Russian Santa, also known as "Father Frost," complete his journey on a train through cities in Russia, travelling thousands of kilometres to meet children nationwide, Newsweek reports.

But this year, the Ukraine war appears to have rerouted his journey through Russia—cities including Kursk and Belgorod, which are located near Russia's border with Ukraine, have been excluded from Santa's list.

Santa's train, also known as Poezd Deda Moroza (Santa Klaus' train), is festively decorated and includes a reception lounge, carriages specifically for games and quests, a restaurant carriage and a shop carriage where souvenirs can be purchased, according to Russia's state-run news agency TASS.

This year, the train departed on October 22 from the town of Veliky Ustyug in Russia's Vologda region. It will pass more than 130 Russian cities and travel over 33,000 kilometres for a total of 85 days, returning to its point of departure on January 15, 2023.

"There are a lot of small towns on the route of the Santa Claus Train, whose residents are also looking forward to the winter wizard. Therefore, when developing the train schedule, Santa Claus and I decided to make stops not only in large but also in small towns and settlements," said Dmitry Pegov, the deputy general director of Russian Railways.

Russian independent news outlet SOTA reported that this year Ded Moroz will not be visiting Russia's front-line regions, nor will he be making stops in the Ukrainian regions that Putin illegally annexed in September: Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.