In Pictures: Orthodox churches begin Christmas celebrations

Christmas is under way for Christians following Orthodox traditions.

In Ethiopia, crowds gathered to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ while Egypt’s Coptic Christians also went to church to mark the feast day.

Egypt borders Gaza, which has been the scene of fighting since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023.

Ethiopia Christmas — Ethiopian pilgrims pray during a mass for Ethiopian Christmas (AP)

Orthodox communities also celebrated in Lithuania and Serbia.

Lithuania Orthodox Christmas — Lithuanian Orthodox worshippers light candles (Mindaugas Kulbis/AP)

Serbia Orthodox Christmas — People burn dried oak branches, the Yule log symbol for Orthodox Christmas Eve, in front of St Sava temple in Belgrade (Darko Vojinovic/AP)

Egypt Coptic Christmas — Egyptian Coptic Orthodox worshippers attend prayers at the church of Ava Bishoy and St Karas the Anchorite in Cairo (Amr Nabil/AP)

In Russia, the families of service personnel killed in the Ukraine conflict were remembered at a gathering attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Patriarch Kirill provided over the service at Moscow’s Christ the Saviour cathedral.

Russia Orthodox Christmas — Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, centre, delivers the Christmas service in Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow (Oleg Varov/AP)

Russia Orthodox Christmas Putin — Russian president Vladimir Putin, centre left, attends an Orthodox Christmas service with the families of military personnel (Gavriil Grigorov/AP)

Meanwhile, in Bethlehem, held in Christian tradition to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, it was the turn of the Orthodox branches of Christianity to mark the occasion.

There had been muted celebrations in December when western Christian traditions held their festivities, with the conflict in Gaza casting a long shadow.